The Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) recently met with the chief scrutineers and other representatives of political parties on mechanisms and procedures for the upcoming claims and objections period, which begins on February 9th.
According to a press release from Gecom, it has given all assurance and confidence to the attendees of the meeting that the “relevant systems in keeping with the standard operating procedures for the conduct of the Claims and Objections exercise will be in place and functioning optimally.”
The release said the claims and objections period will allow eligible electors who have not registered but have met the requirements of Gecom (persons 18 years and older by April 30, 2015) an opportunity “to gain entry onto the Preliminary List of Electors.”
In addition, persons already registered will be permitted to have changes done to their registration information if necessary and those who have moved from one sub-division to another can be transferred accordingly. Electors may also object to an entry on the Preliminary List of Electors in their sub-division or registration areas.
To facilitate this exercise, Gecom said it will utilise its permanent offices, mobile units in the interior and a number of temporary offices in all of its divisions and sub-divisions. This period is essential for the commission to sanitise the Preliminary List of Electors, the release said.
The parties represented at the recent meeting were the Justice For All Party, the Working People’s Alliance, A Partnership for National Unity, the National Front Alliance, the National Independent Party, the United Republican Party and the Healing of the Nation Theocracy.
Gecom’s representatives were Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield, Deputy Chief Elections Officer Vishnu Persaud, Legal Officer Juanita Barker and Logistics Manager Colin April.
