Ballot papers printed, to arrive in Guyana today

Printing of ballot papers for the March 02 general and regional elections has been completed and are due to arrive in Guyana today.

The printing was done by Canadian security printing company Canadian Bank Note, the same company which prints this country’s currency.

Mr Sase Gunraj and Charles Corbin, Commissioners of the Guyana Elections Commission, had travelled to Canada to witness the printing to ensure the integrity of the process.

Close to 700,000 persons are on the country’s voter’s list for the elections and a ballot paper would be needed for each of them. The ballot papers come with special security features which protect against fraud.

Requirements for ballot papers are detailed in Section 39 of the Representation of the People Act (Cap. 1:03).

In the printing of the ballot paper, no letter, word or design can legally be printed on the face except the initial letters, the titles and symbols of the Lists of Candidates.

As such, the laws governing the particulars to be printed on ballot papers do not permit the inclusion of photographs of Presidential Candidates or any other person.