The Private Sector Commission (PSC) has joined the People’s Progressive Party in expressing concern over the decision by the Guyana Elections Commission to reduce the number of private residences to be used as polling stations on elections day. 

In a statement parroting concerns expressed by the PPP, the PSC said it wants GECOM to reverse its decision. 

The private sector body, which is an observer for the elections, said it is worried about the possibility that a significant number of voters could be “disenfranchised by the changes made by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to a substantial number of polling places in a wide number of rural locations.”

The PSC said while GECOM is bound in law to observe the statutory process requiring the Chief Election Officer to act within the authority of the Commission, he appears to have acted unilaterally and on his own by changing the location of polling places between January and February and without informing the contesting political parties. 

The Guyana Elections Commission has repeatedly said that all it has done is to reduce the number of private residences to be used. The Commission has pointed out that in the same communities public buildings will be used instead of private residences.

GECOM Chairman, Justice Claudette Singh has stated that public buildings are always preferred and there have been recommendations by many including the Carter Centre, for the use of private residences to be reduced. 

The Private Sector Commission in its statement said it would like the Carter Centre to publicly clear the air on the issue since “the PSC has checked and is informed that the Carter Center in its final report, following the 2015, elections made no such recommendation”.

But on page 77 of the final report on the 2015 elections by The Carter Center, the group stated that “while the establishment of polling stations on private property did not seem to negatively influence public confidence in the electoral process, GECOM should ensure that citizens can cast their ballot in a neutral environment”.

In the same report, The Carter Center recommended that “GECOM takes steps in future elections to ensure that citizens can cast their ballot in a neutral environment free from intimidation”.

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