The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) needs 148 days to run off general and regional elections, and any rush can produce undesirable consequences, Keith Lowenfield, the country’s Chief Elections Officer (CEO) said Friday.
The Secretariat has not commenced any work because it needs to be given the go-ahead by the Elections Commission, which is made up of the Chairman, three Commissioners from the governing coalition and three Commissioners from the Opposition PPP.
The Chairman, James Patterson has the right to vote.
Lowenfield said he has been “pleading” with the Commission to give him to go ahead to start operations for the elections but he has not been given that mandate and the elections Chairman could not say what is preventing the Commission from making a decision.
The 148-day timeline is the earliest the Secretariat can run off elections and excludes the possibility of holding house to house registration, which could take nine months.
The 148-day timeline hangs on a scenario of no house to house registration but a 21-day Claims and Objections period to sanitise the current list of voters.
The Chairman could not say when the Commission could possibly take a vote to decide on the options presented by the Secretariat.
