GEORGETOWN residents praised the seamless voting process during the long-awaited Local Government Elections (LGEs) 2023 at their assigned polling stations across the city on Monday.

The Guyana Chronicle caught up with a few voters who described their encounters at the polling stations as seamless and swift voting procedure.

An Alberttown resident, Mahadai Boodhoo, a woman in her 70s, cast her vote at the Headstart Nursery School.

Not only was the process hiccup-less, according to her, she also stated that she liked it because it did not take long.

Keenan Abrams was among some of the early voters at the Rama Krishna Primary School.

The man lives in Kitty and said that they suffer greatly from drainage issues and called for a better system in the community.

He described the voting process as a “simple, quiet and smooth flow,” he also encouraged others to “put your X where you think it is supposed to be.”

Among others who voted at the Rama Krishna Primary School, was an elderly man whose name was not given. He applauded the GECOM staff at the polling station for the help given to him. He said this made the process a lot easier.

A candidate contesting in Kitty, Leon Hunte, shared his optimism about having a good turnout.

At the time Hunte was spoken to, he said “We hope that everybody votes early but so far it’s early and we haven’t seen many people yet. As the course of the day continues we’ll have a better turnout.”

Zaheer Baksh, also a Kitty resident, said that he expects drainage works to be a priority for the community.

He noted the work currently being done by the government, however; he said now the community needs assistance from City Hall.

“That is a very good start because you can see from the government part of it that would have been done from the central government point of view, now we need it coming from the actual City Hall part of it. Works must be done from that end as well, but so far the development has been well, very acceptable,” Baksh explained.

Speaking on the voting side, he related that everything went well after figuring out which section of the list they were but a part of. Afterwards, it was a simple process.

At Helena’s Bess Day Care, Motielall Gyanchand of Campbellville, cast his vote at the polling station, with hopes of seeing major changes in his community.

While he did not state what the issues were in the community, he said the voting process was a smooth one.

Several persons who voted at the Enterprise Primary School, residents of the Durban Backlands, called for development in their community.

In addition to this, the residents highlighted that GECOM staff were available to help them at the stations when they were in need of assistance.

Particularly, Mark Kirton, a 71-year-old resident, cast his vote and hopes to see his community roads developed.

At the polling station set up at the New Campbellville Secondary School, a male voter whose name is unknown, made it clear to this news agency that he is an A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) supporter, but he would like to give credit to the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) for a fair election, as far as he saw.

“The process was very smooth as far as I can see. Clearly I’m an APNU supporter but I will give some credit to the PPP because this election has been very fair as far as I’m concerned,” the man explained.

Osafo Fortune, who also voted at the New Campbellville Secondary School, said that the polling staff were courteous, which made the process simple for him.

He said that he hopes in the future, the garbage situation in his community is dealt with, since it is normal for garbage to not be picked up for weeks, or months even.

Residents of Kingston, a mother, and son, Sonia Bhola and Cyril Bhola, voted at the Kingston High School polling station.

Noting the need for successful change in their community, they set out to cast their votes for the person they think was best suited.

Further, Steven Jacobs, a candidate for Kitty and an observer, cast his vote at F.E. Pollard Primary School. At the time he was interviewed by this publication, he had only visited the Rama Krishna Primary School for observation.

“I must say that the process is moving really smooth [sic], I am at F.E Pollard. I visited Rama Krishna. It’s looking good so far. We are helping out persons that [sic] come out and vote, we are appealing to everyone to come out and vote,” he explained.

Jacobs said that the LGEs are very important elections because it matters for the development of their communities.