—Clarifies areas of confusion

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) at the close of polls on Monday signalled its concern about the spread of misinformation throughout polling day.

This was disclosed by GECOM’s public relations officer, Yolanda Ward at the commission’s post-poll press briefing on Monday.

“We remain concerned about the ongoing spread of misinformation and wish to provide clarity on some of the most common areas of confusion,” she said.

Speaking on an issue which was spread widely across social media platforms, she addressed the issue of Commonwealth Identification Cards issued to Bangladeshi nationals.

Against this backdrop, she emphasised that under Guyana’s laws commonwealth residents residing legally in the country for over one year are eligible to vote.

“Commonwealth citizens residing legally in the country for over one year are eligible to vote; the ID cards issue reflect the legal residency status and are valid for electoral purposes,” she said.

To this end, she added that under the National Registration Act (NRA) where the electoral process begins, the eligibility for registration notes that one must be a Guyanese citizen by birth, descent, naturalisation or a citizen of a commonwealth country, living in Guyana for one year or more.

Addressing a second issue that was also spread widely on social media, she spoke on the issue with multiple persons being registered at one address.

“In some cases, employees or agencies house temporary or contracted of the workers at single location. What matters is that the registration process was followed in compliance with the law,” she added.

Another point of contention raised online was the presence of deceased persons’ names on the Official List of Electors. Ward explained that names can only be removed when an official death certificate is submitted to the General Register’s Office. Without that document, names may remain until the next list-revision cycle.

Throughout polling day, several persons took to various social media platforms, spreading misinformation.