The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) announced on Friday that it will not be printing ballots for four Local Authority Areas in the upcoming Local Government Elections and consequently eligible voters will not be required to cast their votes.
Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield explained that in these areas only a single individual has indicated an interest in seeking election.
To this end, these local authority areas have been deemed ‘no contest areas’.
Mr. Lowenfield said these areas were not necessarily sparsely population and promised to provide more details on the exact number of voters in these areas.
Fifty per cent of the number of Councillors of each Local Authority Area will be elected through Proportional Representation while, the other 50 per cent will be elected through the First-Past-the-Post method.
Additionally, 149 of the 508 constituencies have also been deemed no contest areas. In this case, eligible voters will only be required to participate in the proportional representation aspect of the election.
Only voluntary groups and political parties can contest in the Proportional Representation aspect of these elections.
An individual candidate can contest for only one seat in a single constituency in which he or she is registered and resides under the First-Past-The-Post Component.
GECOM officials declared that there was nothing complicated about the elections and committed to completing a comprehensive voter education program before E Day on March 18.
GECOM Chairman Dr. Steve Surujbally cautioned voters that there are basically required to vote for persons who best represent their interest and that of their villages and municipality.
He said the ballots, which are being printed in Canada along with other sensitive documents, will be no different from those used in the 2015 general elections.
GECOM also assured of its preparedness for the holding of the elections.
It has already finalized its list of candidates and has moved to begin the production of ballots. Training for staff has been continuous for several years but was intensified in September 2015. Members of the discipline services will vote on March 08 with voter education to commence on February 08.
Despite accusations of rigging at the recent general elections, GECOM has assured that its security is of the highest standard and is also promising the declaration of results soonest.
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