The Electoral Assistance Bureau (EAB) may not have time to do a physical check of persons on the Official List of Electors (OLE) because the final List has not been compiled as yet.
Head of the EAB Father Malcom Rodrigues told Stabroek News yesterday that the watchdog group is reliant on the final list to commence physical checks of some 1200 randomly computer generated names and addresses.
The bureau met on Wednesday evening to map out their course of action and the majority of volunteers are in place. However, without the OLE, the physical checks cannot happen.
The EAB Chairman had previously noted that in previous elections, getting a copy of the OLE in a timely manner had proved difficult and this year, he hopes it is different.
The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is currently working on the revised Preliminary List of Electors as the most recent round of Claims and Objections ended on February 22, 2015. Rodrigues stated that with the number of new applicants, change of addresses and deceased or non-residents on the Preliminary List of Electors (PLE) , even the use of the revised list of electors would not be sufficient for verification purposes.
The EAB undertakes the task of performing physical checks once the OLE has been produced which entails cross-referencing names and addresses to verify that a name on the list corresponds to a living and eligible person no matter the remoteness of the area.
Rodrigues had previously told Stabroek News that the EAB may partner with other watchdog bodies to maximize the monitoring. He said that the current capabilities of the EAB would ensure that the main polling stations would have volunteers.
Organization of American States, representative here, Jean Dormeus relayed to Stabroek News via email that it was still very early and preparations for the Election Observer Mission (EOM) are still being worked out. “Once we observe the elections, we will formulate a number of recommendations that will aim to contribute to the improvement of the electoral system,” he said.
He made no mention of whether the OAS would be performing any verification processes on the OLE. He did note that the “OAS does not substitute the national actors of this or any electoral process.”
Dormeus said that more information will be provided on the deployment of the mission in a timely manner. The funding for the EOM as well as for the EAB is yet to be determined.
Two weeks ago, electoral experts from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) met with GECOM chairman Dr Steve Surujbally to discuss ways in which they could render assistance to ensure the effective and efficient management of the upcoming elections.
Surujbally told Stabroek News at the swearing in of the 10 Returning Officers last week that once he was called upon by the various entities he was prepared to provide information.
