Potential candidates at the upcoming local government elections are among those who don’t understand the new electoral system that will be used, according to Deputy Chief Election Officer Vishnu Persaud.
“What we have found, in the first instance, is that though people are seemingly interested, they do not really understand the electoral system as it is,” Persaud told a press conference on Thursday at Kingston.
As a result, he said the Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) plans “a comprehensive engagement” with potential political stakeholders.
“We have prepared comprehensive literature to share and discuss with them to generate interest, with a view to see how they can become more interested in terms of contesting elections within their respective local authority area,” he noted, while adding that it was only one of a series of activities that Gecom has planned to educate the public and all stakeholders, inclusive of prospective candidates, be they individuals or as parties.
The polls, which have not been conducted since 1994, will utilise a new hybrid proportional representation and first past the post system when they are conducted next year in nine towns and 62 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs).
Persaud said the current focus is ensuring that electors are conducting transactions during the ongoing Claims and Objections (C&O) exercises, which began on Monday and will end on December 6th and December 13th, respectively.
Meanwhile, Persaud reported that up to Thursday Gecom had received 558 new registration applications, 192 application for changes and/or corrections, 103 application for transfers, and eight applications for entry onto the Preliminary List of Voters. There has been no objection to date.
According to a Gecom statement, prior to the commencement of the C&O exercises, it embarked on an information drive at the grassroots level as it was awaiting the production of infomercials via the electronic media. They have now been completed.
Gecom said it is now engaged in the placement of infomercials for the electronic media, which will complement its ongoing advertising campaign on the C&O exercises in the print media. It said its campaigns would eventually shift focus towards the polls as part of its civic and voter education strategy.
Persons who will be 18 years of age and over by February 29, 2016, and who are Guyanese by birth, descent, naturalisation, or are citizens from a Commonwealth country living in Guyana for one year or more are eligible to vote at the polls.
