-CEO says 10,309 ballots will be extracted for disciplined services, non-resident electors
…joint services to vote on February 21

WITH about 24 days before Guyanese head to the polls, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has kicked into overdrive and “hit the ground running” after receiving the ballot papers and Statement of Polls (SOPs) forms for the upcoming elections.

The “important papers” arrived on Friday morning from Canada, on Atlas Air’s B747 aircraft, one of the largest aircraft to ever land at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA). Those papers were then transported, under “tight security,” to GECOM’s Headquarters at High Street, Georgetown.

ballot papers were printed in Canada, but the process was observed by GECOM Commissioners, Charles Corbin and Sase Gunraj. Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, has confirmed that the papers were received and escorted to GECOM by police,

who were hailed for doing an “excellent job.”
“Today we are happy that the ballots, both ordinary and tendered, and the SOPs are all here,” said Lowenfield in an invited comment to the media, on Friday.

After receiving the papers, the elections body kicked into overdrive and immediately “got cracking.” Part of GECOM’s immediate work was to extract ballots, intended for voting by the disciplined services and non-resident electors such as Guyanese ambassadors and other officials, stationed overseas. According to the CEO, the extraction process was observed by political party agents, GECOM commissioners, former Chief Election Commissioner of India, Dr. Syed Nasim Ahmad Zaidi; former Chairman of the Electoral Commission of Ghana, Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, and other officials.

Lowenfield said the commission’s aim was to extract a total of 10,309 ballots on Friday, with 10,226 of those ballots being extracted for electors in the disciplined services and 83 for the non-resident electors. The CEO said the ballots will be extracted and posted to the non-resident electors, who will then be notified to return those ballots by a particular date.
GECOM, in a breakdown of information on the non-resident electors, said there are two non-resident electors registered in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam); four in Region Three (Essequibo-Islands-West Demerara); seventy-one in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica); three in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice); and one each in Regions Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) and Region Ten (Upper Demerara-Berbice).

JOINT SERVICES TO VOTE FEBRUARY 21
As for the disciplined services, Lowenfield said those electors are set to vote on February 21, 2020. The ballot officers for the disciplined services are Roxanne Ramdyhaw Lewi for the Guyana Defence Force; Nardeo Persaud for the Guyana Police Force; and Onicia Byneo for the Guyana Prison Service.

Similar to the non-resident electors, ballots for the disciplined services will be extracted according to the region where the elector was registered. According to GECOM, there will be 47 ballots for Region One; 282 for Region Two; 1,482 for Region Three; 5,324 for Region Four; 976 for Region Five; 1,328 for Region Six; 61 for Region Seven; 17 for Region Eight; 29 for Region Nine; and 680 for Region 10.

Lowenfield gave the assurance that the ballots will be locked in various containers for the duration of the exercise, prior to dispatch. It was reported that sensitive and non-sensitive materials are dispatched to the various districts prior to Election Day and sensitive materials, including ballot boxes, are checked, labelled and properly secured in respective containers.

As part of preparations for the General and Regional Elections, Lowenfield had said there will be 2,352 polling stations inclusive of 131 private residences, of which 91 of the private residences are in Region Four, particularly on the East Coast corridor.

PROVISIONS FOR VISUALLY-IMPAIRED
The commission is also willing to make provisions for the visually-impaired to utilise tactile templates but it is still working out a register of where these specific voters are located.
Speaking on GECOM’s preparedness, Commissioner Vincent Alexander had said: “For all intents and purposes, we’re on top of it…the persons whose names were moved around on the Registrar of Registrants and the voter’s list are being sent letters so that they know, and essentially those are persons who did transfers through the house-to-house registration. So, the house-to-house has served a very critical purpose in ensuring that people who moved will now be able to vote in the place where they moved.”

GECOM recently published the Official List of Electors (OLE) which is made up of 661,028 persons eligible for voting in the March 2, General and Regional Elections. The commission has also given 11 parties the ‘green light’ to contest the elections.

Guyana Chronicle had reported Chairperson of CARICOM and Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, as saying that peaceful election is in the interest of everyone. Prime Minister Mottley, who met with President David Granger and Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, during a visit to Guyana last Monday, said: “I think both sides are comfortable…there are concerns, but they are going to work them out, we hope.

“We will keep a watchful eye and we have every confidence in the Guyanese people that they will resolve their determinations and decisions in a way that will benefit the people of the country.” As part of keeping a “watchful eye,” CARICOM will have a team of election observers “on the ground,” just as any other institution.

Members of the diplomatic community, who have also been observing electoral process so far, had also urged political leaders to campaign in the spirit of “hearty” and “respectful” competition, with the ultimate goal of ensuring free and fair elections.

President Granger had said he is confident that “credible” and “efficient” elections will be conducted as scheduled on March 2, 2020. “The government side is satisfied that Guyana is on-stream to have efficient and credible elections on the second of March, 2020. “We are satisfied with the work that is taking place now and we feel that the Chairman of the Commission has got her finger on the pulse and will do everything in her ability to ensure that we will have credible elections,” said the President.