People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R) Commissioner on the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Vincent Alexander on Saturday levelled allegations of disenfranchisement of some 900 members of the joint services during Friday’s elections. Members of the Disciplined Services were the first to cast their votes in the Local Government Elections (LGE) at 84 ballot stations across Guyana.
At the close of ballots on Friday, it was reported by GECOM’s Public Relations Officer Yolanda Ward, PPP/C Commissioner Sase Gunraj, Shaz Ally of the Citizen Initiative (TCI) and others that all went well. However, according to Alexander, 10% of joint services officers were unable to vote. Alexander told Stabroek News that on the day of voting, some 900 ranks were unable to vote due to their names not being on the list.
“Ten percent of the people listed to vote had problems in finding their names where they thought they were supposed to be voting. In other words, if you had 4,000 – 9,000 people listed to vote, about 900 people couldn’t find their names where their organisation told them they should be going to vote,” he said.
These numbers, he pointed out, were accumulated by observers at the various polling stations.
Sources at GECOM indicated that those members of the disciplined services who did not get to vote on Friday, will still be given a chance to vote since their names will still be printed on the list. However, Alexander on Saturday surmised that this may still be an issue logistically.
“The problem with that is, if the person is in the interior location, how is that person coming to vote when he lives in Corriverton?” he questioned. The PNC/R Commissioner added that such an occurrence would mean the person would be unable to vote and thus disenfranchised.
“It will disenfranchise voters. That is the consequence and it’s a fundamental issue because GECOM has the responsibility that every voter casts his or her vote. GECOM has to work towards a system,” he added..
Alexander noted that while the PNC/R continued to make representation at the level of GECOM it seemed like things might not change: “We have made representation. We have made representation in the past and we will make representation in the future. So, my argument is GECOM is acting in a manner where it has not been rectified…”
Moving forward, Alexander said, GECOM should work along with the joint services to ensure that all the people’s names are on the list. With the matter still being one of interest, he declared plans to continue raising the matter with GECOM again as well as with the public.
Yesterday, this newspaper contacted both Chief Elections Officer Vishnu Persaud and Ward regarding the allegations and both declined to give a response, stating that they would have to first discuss the matter with GECOM Chairman, retired Justice Claudette Singh.
Members of the joint services are required to vote just before the main elections because of several security and logistical factors. The votes cast are stored and will be counted on June 12, after polls are closed.
