GECOM extends claims and objection exercise for one week

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has extended its ongoing claims and objections exercise for a period of seven days to allow eligible persons further opportunities to participate in the process.

Persons who are desirous of making a claim to be included in the Official List of Electors (OLE) now have until September 21 to do so, while persons who intend to object to the inclusion of names in the OLE have until September 25.

The decision comes hours after GECOM denied making a decision at its statutory meeting on Tuesday last to not extend the period for its ongoing claims and objections exercise.

GECOM had denied doing so while responding to a letter published in Wednesday’s edition of the Stabroek News under the headline ‘The GECOM Chair voted against an extension of claims’ written by opposition commissioner, Vincent Alexander.

In the letter, Alexander noted that the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU) coalition had written to GECOM on September 13, 2022 requesting an extension of the claims and objections period.

“GECOM`s notice at its offices clearly stated that Claims and Objections would be conducted from August 22 to September 18, yet when persons turned up to make claims on September 13, they were told that the period ended on September 12,” Alexander wrote.

GECOM in their release noted although some preliminary discussions commenced at the statutory meeting, it was suggested, and decided, that the Parliamentary political parties be consulted before a determination is made.

During the claims and objections period, any person who will be 18 years and older by the 31st October, 2022, and is a Guyanese citizen by birth, descent, or naturalization, or is a citizen from a Commonwealth country living in Guyana for one year or more, can make a claim to be included in the OLE.

Persons desirous of making a claim to be included in the OLE are required to visit the GECOM Registration Office responsible for their area of residence with the applicable source document(s) such as original Birth Certificate, valid Passport, Adoption Certificate, or Naturalization Certificate / Certificate of Registration to be registered for inclusion.

Meanwhile, objections against the inclusion of names in the PLE can be tendered to the Registration Officer of the Registration Area. Objections can be made by an Elector who is listed in the same Division list/Sub Division list in which the person being objected to is listed.

Objections can also be made by approved Scrutineers of Political Parties provided that any such Scrutineer has monitoring responsibilities for the Division/Sub Division in which the person being objected to is listed.

The relevant original document(s) such as an original Death Certificate must be presented at the time of the hearing to support the basis upon which the objection is made.