Georgetown : The Union of South American Nations’ (UNASUR) observer mission has lauded the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) for its coordination of polling day activities, ensuring that all polling stations have the necessary materials for citizens to exercise their right to vote.
Upon visiting and observing the organisation of the polling stations, Head of Mission Dr. Domingo Paredes during a press conference today said that other countries in the region can learn from Guyana in this regard, as it has developed a creative electoral system, even with very little resources.
The team observed the voting process at 12 polling stations at Parika, Region Three; 8 in Georgetown, Region Four; 8 in New Amsterdam, Region Six, and 5 in Linden, Region Ten.
While congratulating voters who were punctual, Paredes noted that, “At 7 am we saw many voters waiting for the polling to begin, and in this sense, I say again congratulations…by 10 am we had already seen that there was a 35 to 40 percent voter who had already voted,” Paredes explained. He said that in others countries in the regions there are delays for as many as two hours.
He also pointed to the fact that there were information points at every centre visited, and even security personnel, which are commendable. Paredes highlighted that the polling agents were well educated on the protocols of their activities.
He emphasised that the presence of representatives from the various political parties, who also had the official list of electors, were also noticeable, and the number of females involved in the process. Again, this is not so in the rest of South America and these are also features that other countries can adopt from Guyana.
However, the mission was concerned about the accessibility of facilities for the elderly and handicapped and recommended that Guyana implement an “accessibility plan” to accommodate them come next election. Another observation was the overcrowding of some polling stations and urged that there be more polling stations in future.
The mission stated that they have not received any reports of disturbances that should warrant any alarm.
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