Some ballot boxes dispatched as GECOM ramps up preparations for E-Day

With just three days before Guyanese head to the polls, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has commenced the transportation of ballot boxes and other critical materials to outlying and hinterland regions, ensuring that all is in place for the smooth conduct of elections on Monday.

Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO), Aneal Giddings, on Friday assured the nation that the Commission has implemented stringent security measures to safeguard the ballot boxes until polling stations open at 06:00 hrs on E-Day.

“Ever since we received the ballots from Canada and all the other documentation, we commenced the process of packing the ballot boxes for all 2,790 polling stations across the spectrum,” Giddings told the News Room at the GECOM Secretariat on High and Cowan Streets, Georgetown.

He explained that many of the boxes for hinterland regions have already been packed and dispatched. Friday’s activity, he said, represented the “tail end” of the exercise, with materials for Region Four being finalised and those for Berbice in Region Six.

The ballot boxes and election materials are being transported via aircraft through the Eugene F. Correia International Airport at Ogle and along the East Bank corridor to staging areas in Linden and other key locations.

Once the boxes arrive in the various regions, they are lodged at designated police stations and staging areas under heavy guard. Giddings explained that these boxes will remain secured until Monday morning, when deputy returning officers will collect them and deliver them to presiding officers at the polling stations.

Inside the ballot boxes are not only the ballots themselves, but also statements of poll, tally sheets, envelopes for packaging materials after the close of polls, as well as polling bags containing stationery, supplies, and voting compartments.

Giddings further assured that all staffing arrangements are in place, including the appointment of presiding officers, deputy returning officers, and supernumerary returning officers for the districts.

“We are prepared. We’re going according to schedule. Today was the day to ship off all these items to the regions. We are very well on top of that, and we should be all set for opening of poll at 6 a.m. on Monday,” he said.