Guyana Elections Commission Wants ID Cards Used In Friday’s Local Government Poll

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Mar 14, (CMC) – The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) says, voters will have to use their national identification cards when they vote in Friday’s Local Government Election (LGE).

In newspaper advertisements, GECOM said, that it has come to its attention “that on Tuesday, March 8, 2016, during the voting process for the disciplined services, too many voters turned up to cast their ballot without their ID cards”.

It said, that while people were allowed to vote because the documents in the possession of the polling staff and agents contained their photographs, electors would have had to take an oath before casting their ballots.

Although the laws of Guyana, allow for the casting of a ballot without the use of a National ID card, the move is not encouraged.

GECOM said, it is important that voters have their national ID cards when they enter polling stations.

Last week, the main opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) said, that more than 300 members of the security forces turned up to vote without their national identification cards.

The party, which won the last LGE that was held here in 1994, said, the practice should not be encouraged since it causes delays in the process.

Last week, a PPP representative, James Cole, questioned the use of green table cloths at one of the polling booths at the Guyana Defence Force (GDF).

He told reporters at the GDF’s Camp Ayanganna Headquarters, that he was concerned that green table cloths were being used at the three polling stations there.

“The setup, the layout is okay but why are we using political colours, which I noticed that the tables are laid with green table cloth,” said Cole.

Green is a colour closely associated with the ruling A Partnership for National unity (APNU), the bigger member of the two-party coalition government.