–examines crucial issues ahead of elections

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has announced that the Official List of Electors (OLE) currently comprises 718,715 registered voters. As general elections draw closer, the Commission is intensifying preparations to ensure a smooth and transparent electoral process. Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Vishnu Persaud confirmed that the Commission has ramped up its operations, focusing on organisational readiness while addressing several crucial issues ahead of the elections.

While the commission has not yet received a formal mandate to engage in election-specific preparations, Persaud emphasised that proactive measures are being taken to ensure readiness.
“At this time, we [the secretariat] have not been mandated by the commission to formally engaged in preparations for the conduct of those elections. That notwithstanding, we are aware of our responsibility as it relates to ensuring that we are prepared and ready for the conduct of elections, as they are constitutionally due,” he explained.

The CEO expressed confidence in the commission’s ability to deliver a smooth electoral process. “I do not see the activities associated with such preparations posing any difficulties for us, considering that the procedure for the conduct of those elections have not change. We know what we have to do.” Persaud explained that GECOM’s preparatory efforts will revolve around several key areas, including voter verification and education, and the training of election staff.

“We have to do training. Training per say does not form part of the electoral cycle, which usually spans about six months. So, in that regard, we are currently reviewing the manuals for presiding officers and polling day staff. We have completed the first manual [for presiding officers].

“In the second instance, we are looking at the manuals for returning officers and other management staff like the clerks and deputy returning officers. That exercise is likely to be completed by the end of the next week. After that, our focus would be to move to identifying persons to be trained to work for the elections. Starting with the training of trainers for appointment to go into further training. We are likely to advertise for those persons during December so that the training of them could be done in January [2025].”

After addressing general staffing needs, he said the focus will shift to recruiting and appointing key management personnel. These positions include: returning officers, clerks to the returning officers and deputy returning officer. Addressing concerns about the accuracy of the voters’ list, Persaud explained that GECOM routinely updates the National Register of Registrants (NRR) based on reports of deceased persons from the General Register Office and through periodic Claims and Objections exercises.

The CEO added: “As a matter of practice, GECOM has been using death returns received from the General Register Office. Based on verification, persons reported as deceased are flagged in the NRR. The term ‘flagging’ means that they are not deleted from the database. Basically, what happens is that when we move to extract a Preliminary List of Electors, those persons do not come forward into the preliminary list…” He said the commission also requests regular reports from the Chief Medical Officer and the Commissioner of Police to further sanitise the database.

According to him, GECOM has received a report from the Ministry of Health and the Guyana Police Force indicating that 1,018 names were reported as deceased between January and April 2024. However, he stated that the commission has been unable to verify these reports due to the absence of an approved methodology for conducting such verifications. He assured that efforts are currently underway to develop an appropriate procedure.

GECOM Chairperson Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh referenced a ruling by Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George-Wiltshire, SC, which clarified that the removal of names from the NRR database must follow existing legal provisions.

“That decision was never appealed and it’s the law now. The Chief Justice ruled that we cannot remove the names from the list. Simply put, and not withstanding any agitation by any stakeholder, GECOM cannot act beyond its statutory authority”, she emphasised.

Deputy Chief Elections Officer, Aneal Giddings revealed that 28,283 new registrations have been recorded for the year, with the number expected to rise.
However, he was unable to provide a breakdown of the new registrants by category, such as those born in Guyana, naturalised citizens and Commonwealth citizens.

He assured that this information would be made available at a later date. He announced that GECOM has scheduled a Claims and Objections exercise for January 2025.