The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is currently conducting the third cycle of continuous registration which will end on June 18.
In an ad in yesterday’s Sunday Stabroek, GECOM said that any person who will be 14 years or older by September 7, 2012 and is a Guyanese citizen by birth, descent, naturalization, or is a citizen from a Commonwealth country living in Guyana for one year or more, is eligible for registration.
Persons wishing to register must visit the Registration Officer responsible for the area in which they live. Those who have registered previously can apply for a name change if they changed their name by marriage or deed poll since they were registered or apply for correction(s) if there is incorrect information on their national identification cards. Persons can additionally request that their photographs be retaken if the quality of the photo on the ID card is unacceptable.
Persons wishing to register must be in possession of their original birth certificate or a valid Guyana passport and the originals of other documents such as marriage certificate or deed poll if they have changed their names.
The two parliamentary opposition parties have said that they are prepared for early general and regional elections, amid concerns in some quarters that government was frustrated at APNU’s and AFC’s exercising control in the National Assembly. The opposition has cut nearly $21 billion from the National Budget, much to the consternation of the government. Among the entities affected by the opposition’s “scissors” are the National Communications Network (NCN), the Guyana Power and Light Company, the Government Information Agency (GINA) and GECOM.
Last week, the opposition parties called for the reform of the Commission in the light of serious shortcomings in the conduct of the November 28, 2011 polls. During the examination of the estimates, the combined opposition made cuts to funds for GECOM totalling $527 million saying that the necessary reforms must be made before that money could be approved.
An allocation of $902.8 million for GECOM under ‘other’ was reduced by $500 million while an allocation of $53.7 million for refreshments and meals was cut by $27 million.
By making the reduction, observers say, the opposition may have impeded GECOM’s ability to run off snap elections were they to be called by the government. The funding was intended for preparations for overdue local government polls, but the opposition opted to withhold it until agreed legislative reforms are in place. However, Commission Chairman Steve Surujbally, in a recent comment to this newspaper said GECOM would be ready for snap elections were those to be called. Surujbally said that as GECOM goes into action only then would it know the impact of the reduction.
