CARICOM observers say Guyanese elected government ‘under good conditions’

A PRELIMINARY statement issued on Wednesday by the CARICOM Electoral Observer Mission said that Guyanese on November 28were given the opportunity, ‘under good conditions’ to elect a government.

The 19 persons comprising the team were deployed in eight teams of two each and one of three to cover Election Day activities.

On Election Day, one team was deployed in Regions 3, 5 and 10 respectively; two teams to Region 4 and four teams to Region 6.

In addition to the “Scope of Services” provided by the CARICOM Secretariat, the teams were further advised to pay special attention to:

(i) the opening of the poll;

(ii) the voting process;

(iii) the environment at polling stations; and

(iv) the closing of the poll and the count.

Members of the mission visited a significant number of polling stations which provided them with adequate opportunity to make a good overall assessment on the conditions in those areas. The polling stations opened on time and it was clear to team members that the officials representing GECOM and the Chief Elections Officer were well trained and prepared for the tasks,” the statement said.

During the early hours of the poll, observers noticed long lines at the polling stations; but inspite of that, the behaviour was very good. The officials remained calm and focused and the observation is that the process was transparent and in those circumstances electors were able to give free expressions of their feelings when casting their ballots. It is to be noted that despite the long lines immediately after the polls opened, by mid-morning the lines were reduced significantly.

During the day, the electoral officials continued to perform well and the procedures as laid down by GECOM were adequately followed.

At the closing of the poll at the 15 polling stations where this was observed, there was no one waiting in line to cast a vote at 6:00pm., hence only the officials, police and observers witnessed the closing of poll.

No issues arose with the counting of the ballots. All the observers took part in that process and were satisfied with the proceedings.

“The mission’s assessment of election day is that the people of Guyana were given the opportunity under good conditions to elect a government,” the statement concluded.

A full report on the mission’s findings and recommendations will be submitted to the Secretary-General of CARICOM.

Meanwhile, Director of the Venezuelan Elections Commission, Ms. Socorro Hernandez, who is a member of the UNASUR Observer Team was loud in praise for the manner in which electoral officials executed their duties, pointing out that they seem to be well aware of their roles and responsibilities pertaining to the voting process.

As regards the sloth in the releasing of electoral results, Ms. Hernandez said this is understandable bearing in mind that the voting and counting processes are manual ones.

She said the UNASUR Observer team is particularly impressed with the layout of the voters list which makes it easy to identify voters.

Touching on some aspects of the electoral process which needs improvement, Ms. Hernandez said the polling stations need to be better equipped to accommodate persons with disabilities and that the system of proxy voting needs to be simplified.

Overall, the UNASUR Observer Team is satisfied that the election was executed in an effective and efficient manner, Ms. Hernandez noted.

Asked if she would like to return to Guyana to observe future elections, she replied that it would be a pleasure if she is requested.