Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) Dr Steve Surujbally said no decision had been made about whether certificates of employment would be issued to polling day staff allowing them to vote should they be posted in different jurisdictions on Election Day.
He told Stabroek News that he still had to go through the complexities of the matter. Surujbally did not give any inclination which way he was leaning on the matter as of yesterday, only stating that a decision would be forthcoming soon.
With 14 days to go until the nation heads to the polls there is much anticipation as to when the issue will be dealt with; Gecom will have a couple thousand people working as polling day staffers.
Last Monday Gecom filed legal documents on the issue asking for an interpretation of the Representation of the People’s Act from Acting Chief Justice Ian Chang.
Earlier this month the APNU+AFC Coalition had expressed its desire to have Gecom issue certificates of employment to polling day staff to avoid persons being disenfranchised. The coalition had stated that unless the certificates are issued, posting polling day staff to districts where they are not registered to vote would compromise the exercising of an individual’s franchise.
Combatting that Surujbally had said that parties should be able to find agents within the communities for Election Day.
Meanwhile the PPP/C had lashed out at Gecom’s decision to seek the court’s interpretation of the Act. Last week party General Secretary Clement Rohee said the party would be sharing its concerns over Gecom’s behaviour.
He had emphasised that the party had a right to document what it believed to be transgressions against the electoral process as a “major stakeholder.”
