…Port Kaituma residents furious

Vigilant residents of Port Kaituma in the North West District are fuming after a Presiding Officer attached to the Guyana Elections Commission(GECOM) was spotted campaigning with the Opposition Peoples Progressive Party recently.

A resident told the Guyana Chronicle that Sheldon Henry is scheduled to work on Elections Day at an area within the Matarkai sub-region called ‘Eyelash’.

Persons in the area said Henry was spotted on multiple occasions campaigning for the PPP and they are calling on GECOM to ensure all officials working within the North West District, especially remote areas, are neutral in their mandate. Several days ago, GECOM was forced to fire another Presiding Officer, Jenny shaw, from the Enmore area on the East Coast of Demerara after she was seen campaigning with the PPP.

Like all other staff members, the role of the Presiding Officer is crucial to the polling station. He/she is responsible for the efficient operation of the Polling Station to which he/she is assigned and ensuring that it functions in an orderly manner at all times.

The official determines task is to determine the six-digit number for the stamp (official mark) in the presence of Polling Day Staff and Polling Agents. He/she also ensures that the persons other than voters, e.g. Certified Political Party Agents, attending the Polling Station are authorised to enter and are in possession of Identity Cards issued by GECOM. One of the more import roles of the Presiding Officer is that he/she, when called upon, determines whether a person is eligible to vote.