The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has announced that there will be no no voting process in 13 areas as there is no contest in them.
Those areas are listed as Leguan, Canals Polder, La Jalousie/Nouvelle Flanders, Herstelling/Little Diamond, Bath/Woodley Park, Bloomfield/ Whim, Number 64/Number 74, Kintyre/Number 37 Borlam, Ordnance/Fort Lands Number 38, Kilcoy/ Hampshire, Port Mourant/ Johns, Lethem, and Aranaputa/Upper Burro Burro.
According to a GECOM press statement, there will be no voting in those areas based on the fact that those contesting the areas are unopposed and as such voting is not necessary.
GECOM explained that “Section 54 of the Local Authorities (Elections) Act provides that if only one List of Candidates for any Local Authority Area (LAA) has been approved, the persons whose names appear on the list shall be deemed to have been elected as councillors due to the approved list being unopposed and therefore, the candidates in the unopposed list shall be declared the winner of the election.”
In the 13 LAAs there are 98 constituencies, and 193 additional constituencies from among other LAAs in which there will be no need for eligible persons to vote due to the existence of unopposed lists.
GECOM stressed that the existence of an unopposed List of Candidates for a LAA/constituency effectively means that there is no need for the electors to vote and there will be no polling stations in those areas.
People who are unsure about whether they have to vote can visit the GECOM website, the returning officer for the municipality or the Neighbourhood Democratic Council for information, the release said. There will also be public announcements and distribution of appropriate literature in the affected areas to further explain why and who can vote.
