Voting in the 2023 Local Government Elections got underway on Friday by members of the Disciplined Forces who are casting their ballots ahead of the official elections day on June 12.
And the Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh, says she is satisfied with the smooth flow of things thus far.
Singh visited and observed the voting process at the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Base Camp Ayangana and the Prison Service in Georgetown.
“I think it’s going very smoothly.
“I am satisfied with what is going on right now and how things are moving,” Singh told the press at Camp Ayangana.
She said while all systems are in place for the rest of the country to vote on June 12, “commissioners have a way of raising issues and those will be dealt with in due course.”
Justice Singh was accompanied by Deputy Chief Elections Officer, Aneal Giddings who noted that the voting process is in line with GECOM’s work plan.
He also highlighted that everything is in place for voting on June 12.
“We have concretized all of the polling stations at this point, 1, 574 to be exact,” Giddings noted.
The voting process is being observed by various party agents and officials of GECOM.
“In our total voting population, we have 2, 799 ranks who are expected to vote today,” Chief of Staff of the GDF, Brigadier Omar Khan told the media at Base Camp Ayangana.
He said there are 23 locations for members of the GDF to vote and based on reports so far, the process has been going smoothly.
However, a few GDF ranks who showed up at Camp Ayangana to cast their ballots were told their names were not registered there and that they would have to vote in the communities where they reside.
Meanwhile, Director of Prisons, Nicklon Elliot told the media that he does not foresee any challenges throughout the day.
“Voting this morning started at all the prison locations at 6 am. We did not have any concerns from the staff who would have started the process and in total, we have 493 who are registered to vote,” Elliot said outside the Camp Street Prison in Georgetown.
Also observing the process at the Camp Street Prison was GECOM’s Commissioner Sase Gunraj who noted that there were a few minor hiccups which were expected.
“In so far, I am seeing the execution of the preparation and the work plan that we have put in place for a long time now.
“There were one or two minor issues that were resolved very quickly on the ground,” Gunraj said.