The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has announced the commencement of the preparation of the Registers of Voters, for the conduct of Local Government Elections from tomorrow, Monday, February 13, a GECOM release stated yesterday.
It said that in order to facilitate this exercise, GECOM has established Offices of Assistant Electoral Registrars (AERs) in each of the 80 Local Authority Areas (LAA). The commission also set out the following criteria for persons making a Claim to Entry, updating registration records, verifying existing registration, and making Objections against the inclusion of names in the PLV.
*During this exercise, any person who will be 18 years and older by the 22nd May, and is a Guyanese citizen by birth, descent, or naturalisation, or is a citizen from a Commonwealth country living in Guyana for one year or more, can make a Claim to Entry on the Register of Voters (RoV) on or before February 19, providing that he or she is not listed in the Preliminary List of Voters (PLV), which has been posted in every Constituency in the respective LAA.
*Persons desirous of making a Claim to be included in the RoV must visit the office of the Assistant Electoral Registrar (AER) responsible for the Local Authority Area where they reside with the required source document(s) such as an original birth certificate, valid passport, adoption certificate, or naturalization certificate/certificate of registration, to be registered for inclusion.
*Existing registrants are also advised to check the PLV posted at two prominent locations in each constituency in the respective Local Authority Area, at the Offices of the Electoral Registrars and Assistant Electoral Registrars, or on GECOM’s website at www.gecom.org.gy to verify the existence/accuracy of their registration information in the PLV.
*Persons who need to update their registration records such as a change or correction to their names and occupation, or to apply for a transfer if they have changed their addresses since they were registered, are advised that they can apply for such transactions during this exercise. The relevant source documents such as an original Marriage Certificate, Deed Poll with Birth Certificate, or a new Birth Certificate reflecting the changes must be presented in the case of an application for a change or correction.
*Objections against the inclusion of names in the PLV can be tendered to the Assistant Electoral Registrar (AER) of the LAA from February 13 to 22. Objections can be made by a voter who is listed in the same constituency list in which the person being objected to is listed. Objections can also be made by accredited Scrutineers of Political Parties provided that any such Scrutineer must be accredited to the LAA in which the person being objected to is listed. The relevant original document(s) such as an original Death Certificate must be presented at the time of the hearing of objections to support the basis upon which the objection is made.
In view of the foregoing, it must be emphasized that while the Continuous Registration Exercise and the Claims and Objections Exercise are being conducted simultaneously, persons who are now registering for the first time and would be eligible to vote at the upcoming Local Government Elections must visit the Office of the AER in the LAA where they reside in order for their names to be included on the RoV for this election. Similarly, persons who are required to have changes or corrections done to their particulars as stated on the PLV and make objections to the inclusion of names on the list must also visit the Office of the AER in the LAA where they reside in order for the corrections to be reflected on the official ROV.
The Commission is urging all eligible persons who would be eligible to vote at the upcoming Local Government Elections, but are not listed in the PLV, to use this opportunity to get registered for inclusion in the RoV to qualify to vote at the elections. Persons are also encouraged to object to the inclusion of the name of any person who they believe do not meet the eligibility criteria to be in the list.
Persons who wish to have more information and details on the location of the respective offices can visit GECOM’s website at www.gecom.org.gy or call 225-0277-9 / 223-9653.
