The Guyana National Youth Council (GNYC) on Saturday took its ‘Vote like A Boss’ Campaign to the ancient county of Berbice in an effort to increase voter education among residents especially youths.
The youth group hosted a street fair at Main and Pitt Streets in New Amsterdam where passers-by were given demonstrations on how to participate and cast their votes in the upcoming May 11th General and Regional Elections in Guyana. The group also journeyed to the Corentyne on the
same day to hold a voter education workshop at the St. Francis Community Centre in Port Mourant.
According to the representatives (who asked not to be named), they are working to support the Guyana Elections Commission’s (GECOM) mandate to ensure that Guyanese are educated and informed about the electoral processes while simultaneously helping them to understand their duty in shaping the country’s policies. As such, GNYC is taking its ‘Vote like a Boss’ campaign to various parts of the country.
“We realize that this election will be decided by the youths, so we just want to make sure they know exactly what they have to do come May 11th,” said one of the youths at the booth.
He added that youths “need to ensure that their vote count and they don’t spoil the ballot”. As encouragement to participate in the education drive, members of the public were given free t-shirts after they successfully completed the mock exercise.
GNYC is said to have been born out of a consensus reached by several youth-based organizations that the voice of youth is not adequately being considered in national policy.
However, it is not the role of the council to replace any youth bodies but rather, to engage all key stakeholders in the exchange of ideas as to how best to strengthen cooperation among young people.
