The Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) will be holding meetings on the upcoming local government elections within all of the 62 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) and the nine Municipalities where the polls are to be contested.
Gecom, in a statement issued on Thursday, announced that the meetings are part of its ramping up of stakeholder engagements to target voters and potential contestants for the polls under its civic and voter education strategy.
The primary objective of these meetings is to provide voters and contestants, including political parties, voluntary groups and individual candidates, with comprehensive knowledge about the elections, it noted, to ensure their efficient conduct, with maximum participation in a free, fair, and transparent manner.
A meeting was scheduled for yesterday at the 8th of May Secondary School, at Dartmouth, Essequibo Coast. Another meeting is scheduled for the Tagore High School, Corentyne, Berbice tomorrow at 5pm.
Among the issues that will be discussed at the meetings are the electoral system for the polls, voting, the rights and responsibilities of voters, the criteria to contest the polls and qualifications needed for election as councillors.
Despite the launch of the meetings, Gecom said it is prepared to meet with any civil society organisation that may wish to discuss the issues. Any such organisation is required to call telephone number 225-9897 to make the necessary arrangements.
The polls, which have not been held since 1994, are to be run off on March 18th, next year.
