The decision of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to drastically slash polling places for the upcoming General and Regional Elections is being described as a bad one, one which the Elections Secretariat will now have to review.
This is according to Opposition-nominated GECOM Commissioner Sase Gunraj, who confirmed that following a statutory meeting on Tuesday, the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, has agreed to look into the concerns raised over the issue.
“What this has resulted in in some areas is concentration of polling stations in one location. Concentration in one place is a cause for concern. As you may well know, there is concern about the number of persons who may have to access one facility,” Gunraj said.
“A larger catchment area having a polling station in one place means persons have to travel longer distances; two, the number of persons who have to access that polling place. We have discussed with the CEO these issues and he has promised to look at it and as far as possible, resolve it.”
According to Gunraj, GECOM is catering for an average of just under 400 electors per polling station. However, he reminded that there is still likely to be a disproportionate number of persons to polling stations in some areas.
“As far as possible, I think we are looking at a maximum of 400 persons per polling station. But if you have, for example, 10 polling stations in one location, you are talking about 4000 persons accessing one location over the course of the day. In some places, you may have more polling stations in one place.”
Gunraj noted that while the number of polling stations has increased, it is the number of polling places that have been reduced.
He also pointed out that while the reduction of private residences as polling places may be the ultimate goal, the manner in which it was done is the issue.
“You cannot sacrifice voters’ accessibility, as well as logistics at the altar of a number of private residences. So, I still maintain that the use of private residence ought to be reduced where necessary.”
“But in cases where it’s (inconveniencing) persons or logistically, putting people out of the area, you can’t stop doing that. So, the use of private residences ought not to be eliminated if proper alternatives are not available.”
Nothing new
When contacted, GECOM Public Relations Officer Yolanda Warde noted that emphasising the use of public places over private residence is nothing new. Moreover, Warde said that GECOM made its decision on the basis that persons would not be inconvenienced. She noted that if persons have difficulties finding their polling station on Election Day, GECOM staff will be able to direct them.
“We want to ensure that when we move private residences, there is an additional security mechanism with that. Taking all that into consideration, the Commission has decided that as far as practical, we use public buildings that remain accessible to electors and in their respective divisions.”
“There is a difference between a polling place and polling station. If there is a polling place (like a primary school), in that polling place there will be several polling stations. And it has always been that way. And with that, it is carefully marked. You may have an alpha split (surname) or geo split (directions). And all those polling places will have information clerks if persons have difficulties.”
Displace, chaos
The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), in working out the logistics of ensuring that voters are facilitated to exercise their constitutionally guaranteed sovereign franchise from the list of Polling Stations submitted by GECOM, discerned very disturbing trends countrywide.
Speaking with Guyana Times International on Monday, PPP/C Chief Election Scrutineer Zulfikar Mustapha said that the decision by GECOM to reduce the polling places will now displace persons and cause chaos. Giving an example, he noted that in Mon Repos, there are approximately 10,000 voters registered, yet only two Places of Poll – Mon Repos Nursery School and Mon Repos Primary School – have now been designated to facilitate them.
Mon Repos comprises several sections – Mon Repos North, Mon Repos Housing Scheme, Mon Repos Market Square, Mon Repos Squatting Area, Mon Repos Richardsville, Marthasville Block CC and Block 8 – which are widely dispersed.
From the data provided, approximately 7000 voters will now be funnelled into Mon Repos Primary School to cast their ballots. This is a recipe for chaos since, based on our history of past elections, most of these voters will be arriving at the Place of Poll in the early hours of the morning or in the evening. In the last elections, Mon Repos had 19 polling places, which allowed a very orderly flow of voters and the voting was incident-free.
Former Attorney General Anil Nandlall in a social media post on Monday evening had also been critical of GECOM’s decision. This decision, he said, must be reviewed owing to the potential for confusion on Election Day.
According to Nandlall, this inequitable distribution of polling places is discriminatory in so far as it gives electorates in certain communities easier access to voting places than others.
