GECOM explains elections operating procedure

TIMES INT'L
GECOM Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield
GECOM Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield

Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Dr Steve Surujbally has justified the procedure utilised by the elections body as satisfactory as he opined that voting across the country was smooth for the most part.

Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield, said that for any multi-voting, it has to be in collaboration of all present at a polling station.  Both GECOM staffers noted UNASUR’s earlier praise of the system GECOM had put into place for the election, pointing out that the organisation had said that GECOM had gone above and beyond what many Latin American countries do to ensure that their system is fool proof.

Dr Surujbally did however, acknowledge that no system is ‘pure’ and if in fact the commission investigated and found that its staff has made such incidents possible such as multi-voting, then they will be dealt with according to the standard operating procedures set out by the commission. Claims from some quarters of the voter education programme being launched too late were also rejected.

Dr Surujbally explained that campaigning was done in a strategic manner and explained it thus.

“There are strategic tactical times, when you start the bombardment, and you do it in such a blitzed way, with such intensity, that even if part of it is absorbed, then we are ahead of the game.”

Dr Surujbally said that GECOM’s voter and civic education process cannot be faulted; noting that for the first time the commission had sign language for the hearing impaired and that for the first time blind voters without the assistance from others were able to vote using templates that GECOM created.

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