Members of the Guyana Elections Commission were informed on Tuesday that two technical officers from the Electoral Commission of Jamaica will be providing assistance to GECOM under the auspices of the International Republican Institute.
Though the actual Terms of Reference for these individuals is not yet clear Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield has previously announced that that they will help to develop a Civic and Voter Education package.
Their presence would bring to five the number of electoral experts operating within GECOM as part of the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections.
Last month the Commission announced that former Chief Election Commissioner of India, Dr. Syed Nasim Ahmad Zaidi and former Chairman of the Ghana Electoral Commission Kwadwo Afari-Gyan will from this month be observing its preparations and conduct of the Elections.
“These two gentlemen will be here from early January…those persons would be advisors to me and the Commission, as a whole, and they will also oversee the elections,” Chairperson of GECOM, Justice (Rtd) Claudette Singh told a press conference.
The two men will form the Commonwealth’s observer team which GECOM has said is just one of many as this country has approved the applications of several international organizations to observe the elections.
Jean-Pierre Kingsley, who served as Canada’s Chief Electoral Officer for 17 years, has also accepted the invitation of the GECOM Chair to provide technical electoral aid.
