Registration cycle ends December 31

GECOMGeorgetown: The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has announced that it will be ending the Seventh Cycle of Continuous Registration on December 31.

This means that the cycle will end almost two months ahead of its previously scheduled date, that is, February 27.

GECOM disclosed that the decision was made during the 436th Statutory Meeting of the Commission held on December 9.

GECOM noted that as of Wednesday, 4277 registration transactions were completed, with 3116 being new registrants.

Of the new registrants, 1457 are persons 18 years and above while 1659 are registrants 14 to 18 years of age.

Meanwhile, the number of registrants requesting changes to the information on their ID Card so far amounts to 611, while those requesting transfers equal 550. The percentage of verification currently stands at 95.8 per cent.

In light of the earlier deadline, GECOM is urging individuals to make a “special effort to get registered before the December 31 deadline to ensure that they are on the National Register of Registrants”.

Anyone who will be 14 years or older by March 31, 2015, and is a Guyanese citizen by birth, descent, naturalisation, or is a citizen from a Commonwealth country living continuously in Guyana for one year or more, is eligible for registration.

According to the release, Section Six of the National Registration Act, Chapter, 19:08 makes it obligatory for persons who meet the registration criteria to apply for registration.

Persons eligible for registration could be prosecuted, fined and/or even sent to prison for failing or refusing to apply for registration. In the case of eligible persons under the age of 18 years, by the qualifying date, the parents/guardians could be prosecuted for failure/refusal to apply for registration.