ELECTION WATCH: LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS All systems in place for June 12th – GECOM Commissioner

From an operations and policy level, all systems are in place for the holding of Local Government Elections on Monday, June 12, 2023, across Guyana at 1,574 polling stations, according to Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Commissioner, Sase Gunraj. “From a policy level at the Guyana Election Commission (GECOM) we have set everything in place. We’ve given the requisite guidance and we’ve made the resources available to the (GECOM) Secretariat to have the work done. I expect everything to flow smoothy and properly,” he said, in an invited comment.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO), Aneal Giddings, expressed similar sentiments. He said, “We have concretized all of the polling stations at this point, 1, 574 to be exact.”

The 2023 Local Government Elections cover

610 constituencies in 80 Local Authority Areas – 70 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) and 10 Municipalities.

Notably, GECOM has confirmed that there will be no contest in 291 of the 610 constituencies being contested for the 2023 Local Government Elections (LGE). According to the Commission, 98 of the constituencies where there is no contest – meaning only one political party submitted list of candidates – are found in 13 Local Authority Areas in Regions 3, 4, 5, 6 and 9. GECOM explained that the other 193 of the constituencies are from other Local Authority Areas (LAAs).

GECOM said, “The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) takes this opportunity to inform all Stakeholders, that there are thirteen (13) LAAs with a combined total of ninety-eight (98) Constituencies, and one hundred and ninety-three

(193) additional Constituencies from among other LAAs in which there will be no need for eligible persons to vote due to the existence of unopposed Lists. The existence of an unopposed List of Candidates for a LAA/Constituency effectively means that there is no need for the electors to vote. Accordingly, there is no need for the establishment of Polling Stations in such LAAs/Constituencies.” Further, Section 54 of the Local

Authorities (Elections) Act provides that if only one List of Candidates for any Local Authority Area (LAA) has been approved, the persons whose names appear on the List shall be deemed to have been elected as Councillors due to the approved List being unopposed and therefore, the Candidates in the unopposed List shall be declared the winner of the election.

The PPP/C is contesting in all 610 constituencies in the 80 LAAs.