The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) recently commenced its claims and objections exercise. This exercise is being conducted to ensure the Commission cleans the current preliminary list of voters and arrives at a clean official list for the upcoming Local Government Election (LGE).
Also, persons who wish to vote at the upcoming LGE can now register once they have met the criteria.
“Once you will be 18 years and older by the 31st October 2022, you’re a Guyanese citizen by birth, descent, or naturalisation, or you are a citizen of a commonwealth country living in Guyana for one year or more, you’ve never been registered, you can make a claim to be on the official list of elector,” the Commission’s Public Relations Officer, Yolanda Ward, said as she explained who is eligible for registration.
However, persons desirous of registering must have an original copy of any required registration documents, e.g., an original copy of their birth certificate.
Also, persons who have a change of address and are now married and wish to change their name to their spouse’s can do so at this exercise.
One of the major arguments that exist at this time, particularly by the Opposition, is that the names of dead persons or persons who are not qualified to vote are on the preliminary list. With this in mind, GECOM is inviting individuals who want to make an objection to anyone on the list to do so but must provide documents to prove their case.
“Of course, you need to provide supporting original documents to prove that the information that you providing or the name you are objecting to so that you can prove the case and we can act accordingly.”
Importantly, if you make an objection, it must be someone from your jurisdiction.
Objections can be submitted by approved scrutineers for the various political parties that are responsible for the various registration regions or subdivisions.
The objection period ends on September 15, and then there will be a period for hearing these cases.
