Gecom gazettes lists of candidates for the political parties contesting the 2011 General and Regional Elections
The Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) has published in the Official Gazette the lists of candidates which were submitted by (i) A Partner for National Unity (APNU), (ii)Alliance For Change (AFC), (iii) People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), and (iv) The United Force (TUF), to contest the 2011 General and Regional Elections. Also published in the Gazette was the list of candidates submitted by the East Berbice Development Association (EBDA) to contest the Regional Election in District 6.
Gecom meets Aircraft Owners Association
A Gecom team headed by Keith Lowenfield, Assistant Chief Election Officer met a team of Members of the Aircraft Owners Association of Guyana (AOAG) headed by Michael Correia, President of the Association, on Nov 3.
The meeting was held at the behest of Gecom to emphasize the need for the guaranteed availability of aircraft to facilitate flights to Regions 1, 7, 8 and 9 for the posting of the official List of Electors for the 2011 General and Regional
Elections, the delivery of sensitive election materials before Election Day and the retrieval of sensitive election materials after Election Day.
The primary outcome of the meeting was the assurance given by the AOAG that aircraft would be made available to Gecom on request towards ensuring that the associated tasks are implemented in an efficient manner.
National ID Cards issued before October 2009 have been decommissioned
All National Identification Cards issued before October, 2009 (“red” and “green” ID cards) have been decommissioned with effect on October 31, 2011.
In view of this decommissioning, ID cards (“red” and “green”) which were issued prior to October, 2009, have no relationship with the Official List of Electors
(OLE) to be produced for the General and Regional Elections – 2011 and will not be accepted as a means of identification for voting at these elections.
National Identification Cards, which were produced for persons who were registered during the 2008 House-to-House Registration exercise, the Claims and Objections exercise which was done last year in preparation for Local Government Elections, the 2nd Cycle of Continuous Registration – September-December, 2010, and both phases of the Claims and Objections exercise – 2011, are currently being distributed from all of Gecom’s permanent registration offices across Guyana.
All registrants who have not as yet uplifted their ID cards are urged to go to the registration offices associated with their respective areas of residence to collect their new ID cards without delay.
The current ID card distribution exercise will end on Friday, November 25, 2011.
Accreditation of local observers
The Canadian High Commission has been accredited as a local observer of the 2011 General and Regional Elections.
The Electoral Assistance Bureau (EAB), the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), and the British High Commission in Guyana have already been accredited as local observer groups for the elections. Currently, the Private Sector Commission (PSC) is in the process of being accredited as a local observer group.
All of these organisations have agreed to abide by the principles enshrined in the terms of reference for local observers, failing which the respective accreditation could be rescinded.
