Several persons in different areas around the country were unable to exercise their franchise, for varying reasons.
Three live-in patients at the Mahaica Hospital were dissatisfied at the fact that they were unable to vote and opined that better arrangements could have been made to accommodate persons such as themselves.
Robert Barron, a visually-impaired man in his 70s who is restricted to his bed in his small hospital room, said he had been hoping that a relative would assist him in the proxy voting procedure.
In the same hospital, in the female ward, 73-year-old Juliet Charles sat helplessly as she explained that although attempts were made, her daughter was unable to carry out this right for her. She noted her disappointment in this occurrence as she emphasized her enthusiasm to her ballot cast.
Charles indicated that she had been a patient of the hospital for several years and had worked there prior to her being affected by arthritis. This illness has now has her immobilized.
Sharing similar distress was Clarice Samlall. However, this patient admitted that she was not registered as she was not in possession of her birth certificate.
At Moleson Creek, Jadesh Jaggernauth and his reputed wife Shirley Arjune said they had no birth certificates.
Jaggernauth said his birth certificate had an error, which he failed to correct, and which disallowed him from completing his registration process.
Arjune said she had applied for her birth certificate at the General Register Office in Georgetown, but was told, “no records can be found”, as her parents had failed to register her birth.
Unfortunately, her son Ajai was in the same predicament as his father was working away from home when he was born and Arjune said she neglected to have his birth registered. The teenager said he was disappointed as he would have wanted to have the experience.
Remmis Crawford, also of Moleson Creek, said he was in prison and had not registered and made no attempt to do so after he was released.
His wife, Selina Wattie, said she had experienced a misfortune when the boat in which she was travelling capsized in the Corentyne River last year, resulting in the loss of all her important documents. She said that to date she has been financially unable to do what was necessary to have those documents replaced.
