Presidential Candidate of A New United Guyana (ANUG), Ralph Ramkarran has said that those who applied for a change of address and did not receive it should be officially informed by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) of this situation.
“They should inform the people that the changes were not made. If you went to change your address from Kitty to Bel Air which is a simple process. You will show up at a polling place in Bel Air. People should be told because things like this create hotspots,” he told Stabroek News in an interview yesterday.
Stabroek News has previously reported that several persons who attempted to transfer their registration from one region to another have not found those changes reflected in the Official List of Electors.
GECOM Public Relations Officer Yolanda Ward has indicated that it is unlikely that the changes can be accomplished now as the OLE is final.
“They can write to the Chief Election Officer and the Secretariat will investigate their individual case but the OLE for the March 2, 2020 elections has been certified. From where I sit, there is no option for changes at this time,” she noted.
Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield, when questioned about the matter on Tuesday, also indicated that each person affected should write the Secretariat.
The OLE, which went live on the Commission’s website (https://www.gecom.org.gy/home/ole) on February 1st, contains the names of 660,998 electors. It has been through more than nine months of revision including a truncated House to House (HtH) process during which approximately 91,000 change-of-address requests were made.
GECOM had attempted during the 21 days the RLE was published to record those changes but on January 25th, when the RLE expired 88,876 changes had been recorded apparently leaving approximately 2,124 registrants who had requested a transfer without same.
It is not clear if GECOM which is currently in the midst of elections preparation will have the facilities to inform person of this outcome especially since there is no statutory requirement that they do so.
The Representation of the People Act provides for GECOM to inform electors of changes actually made to their registration record rather than of a failure to make changes.
Regulation 37 of the National Registration (Residents) Regulations Act specifies that the Commission of Registration, Keith Lowenfield, can within 21 days after he certifies the RLE make changes provided that he “is satisfied that any entry or omission in any list as revised pursuant to regulation 35 is incorrect through inadvertence.”
It adds that “in the course of such revision, he shall make or cause to be made the requisite correction to that list and such copy thereof as is open for inspection at any registration office and the Commissioner shall give to the person to whom such correction relates notice thereof, which may be sent by registered post to his last known address.”
Several persons who requested a change of address during HtH have informed Stabroek News that they have received a registered mail detailing this change.
At this stage anyone who has not received this mail should assume that the change has not been recorded and check the OLE.
