Georgetown : As preparations for May 11 elections intensify, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is urging persons to ensure their names are on the Preliminary List of Electors (PLE) before the claims and objection process concludes on February 22.
The law stipulates that prior to the holding of an election; the claims and objection exercise should be held to ensure that persons whose names are not on the list of electors are known, those who wish to change their address can do so and those who would have departed can be taken off.
As of February 17, there were over 3000 new registrants and 3000 transfers during the claims and objection process.
During a press briefing at Cara Lodge, Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfied guided media operatives through the process that takes the commission to the Official List of Electors (OLE).
He explained that prior to the commencement of the claims and objections, the relevant stakeholders were engaged and all political parties were provided with the OLE. The list was also posted in all divisions and the commission was accompanied by, scrutinisers to ensure that locations are suitable.
Lowenfield explained that after that process is completed, the commission will be moving to the revised list for which changes will be done, and once this list is revised, the OLE will be posted so that persons can confirm that their individual information is correct. There are 567, 125 persons on the PLE as against 492, 000 in 2011.
Currently, there are 38,000 Identification Cards (ID) not yet uplifted, however , Lowenfield further explained that if a person does not have an ID card, that will not hinder them from voting on polling day.
When asked about those persons working in the mining areas, Lowenfield stated that the commission has engaged those large mining companies to ensure that their staff are on the list and teams will be at every mining site on Election Day.
In terms of staffing, Lowenfield confirmed that the commission is short of some 1623 persons to work on elections day, however, the hiring process is not yet completed and the commission will be addressing this issue shortly.
The full complement of staff needed to serve the 2260 polling stations on May 11 would amount to some 12,000 people who would be trained by the commission.
Meanwhile, Chairman, Steve Surujbally highlighted that while GECOM is short of staff for polling day currently, the commission will not be hiring persons that do not satisfy the required qualification criteria.
The Commission’s employment process will be guided by established employment best practices towards ensuring that the best candidates with the requisite knowledge, skills and experience are appointed to the various positions that are relevant to elections management.
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