GECOM assures ABC Diplomats of readiness for May 11 polls

GECOM assures ABC Diplomats of readiness for May 11 polls

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) recently met with resident diplomats from the United States, Great Britain and Canada, all of whom have expressed satisfaction with the preparations being made by the Commission for the May 11 elections.

According to a release from the elections body, the meeting which occurred Friday last provided GECOM with the opportunity to thoroughly update the diplomats about the heightened state of preparedness throughout the GECOM Secretariat, as the elections draw near.

GECOM’s Chairman Dr. Steve Surujbally and Chief Elections Officer Kieth Lowenfield, with whom the Diplomats met, indicated that the preparatory electoral processes have met all statutory requirements and timelines, and in some instances have been ahead of schedule – as is the case with the early posting of the Revised List of Electors.

In response to queries regarding adequate numbers of trained Election Day staff to be utilized by GECOM, Lowenfield “emphasized that in an effort to avoid last minute recruitment, training and selection of Election Day workers, GECOM initiated a rigorous training, re-training, further training and refresher training exercises since September 2014 and now has a reserve pool of trained Election Day staff in excess of the required numbers.”

He also pointed out that Polling Day staff will be contracted from the beginning of April and will again undergo a number of refresher training courses, on a continuous basis in the run up to Election Day.

The release noted that GECOM’s Chairman assured that the selection of Polling Day staff including Returning Officers and Deputy Returning Officers was conducted in a fair and transparent manner and following the criteria associated with due process and international best practice.

This comes as the ruling PPP Civic continues to call on GECOM to public vet its polling day staff.

“Dr. Surujbally further indicated that the eventual contracting of Polling Day staff will be a merit-based exercise that will take into consideration the applicants’ profiles, maturity, experience, relevant skills and scores on evaluations conducted during their two-day training,” the release added.

The ABC diplomats were also briefed on the new methodology to be adopted by GECOM as it relates to the investigation for applications for Proxy Voting. Previously, Returning Officers investigated the applications for proxy voting independently. However, as an improved measure of transparency, political party agents will now be actively involved in the process, not lastly accompanying Returning Officer during their home visits, to investigate applications for Proxy Voting.

GECOM indicated to the diplomats, that it is currently exploring the use of social media, as part of its integrated communication strategy to inform stakeholders about the location of polling stations and other pertinent issues.

The GECOM Chairman revealed that the Commission has enrolled the assistance of political parties in the distribution of National ID Cards. He indicated that political parties were given a list of names of persons who are yet to uplift their National ID cards.  He also indicated that political parties can encourage their supporters to collect their ID cards. The uncollected ID cards would be centralized at the GECOM Secretariat three days before the elections.

“In response to a question about the timely release of election results, the GECOM Chairman categorically stated the Commission would not compromise accuracy for expediency/speediness in delivery of election results, but would be aiming towards a timely and accurate announcement of the election results. GECOM further indicated that it will be divulging partial results as the tabulation process is underway.”

The Diplomats who met with GECOM were the Chargé d’Affaires of the American Embassy, Mr. Bryan Hunt, British High Commissioner, Mr. Greg Quinn, and the Canadian High Commissioner, Dr. Nicole Giles.

 

Filed: 26th March, 2015.

 

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