The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has announced schedules for Claims and Objections, with the electoral agency revealing that Preliminary List of Electors (PLE) will be published by December 24, which persons can scan to make claims for or objections against names on the list.
According to a notice from the Commission, after the lists are published and affixed on buildings by the registration officers, claims for persons to be included on the list can be made to the registration officer of each registration area between January 2 and January 15, 2025.
The qualifying date for electors to be 18 years old, is December 31, 2024. This means that persons who have reached the age of 18 years and older as of December 31, 2024 and are Guyanese citizens by birth, descent or naturalisation or “is a citizen from a Commonwealth country living in Guyana for one year or more,” are eligible to vote in next year’s General and Regional elections.
Persons can therefore make claims on their behalf for them to be included on the revised list of electors, if their names are not present on the posted preliminary lists. Additionally, persons can apply for a transfer from an address they no longer live at. They can also apply for a change of name or for a correction, if incorrect information is on the PLE.
Meanwhile, GECOM set out January 2 to January 22, 2025, for objections to be made to names on the preliminary list. Objections typically allow persons the opportunity to contest the inclusion of the names of any deceased individuals on the PLE. Family members or other residents can present necessary documentation to GECOM to validate their claims and objections, thereby ensuring the accuracy of the electoral roll.
According to GECOM, registration officers will begin hearing and determining objections by January 5, 2025. Meanwhile, GECOM has appointed January 25, 2025 as the day by which all forms of claims, objections, applications and decisions will be sent by the registration officers to the Commissioner of Registration. The Chief Elections Officer, Vishnu Persaud (CEO), will then begin hearing and determining appeals the very next day. Additionally, any changes to the PLE will be made by February 2, 2025.
At the end of the previous claims period of the second cycle of the 2024 Claims and Objections timeline, GECOM had announced it recorded over 4,500 total transactions between July 2 and July 15, 2024. This included a total of 1,599 new registrations, 885 transfers, 597 changes or corrections, 1,179 replacement ID cards, 336 requests for photo retakes, a total of 4,593 transactions.
GECOM has also been working closely with the General Register Office (GRO) to verify deaths and remove the names of deceased individuals from the Official List of Electors (OLE).
In addition to the last claims and objections exercise that lasted from July 2 to July 15, the continuous registration process ended in November 29, 2024. As of September 20, 2024, GECOM Public Relations (PR) Officer Yolanda Warde had reported, 6,941 new voters were registered.
During this period there were 2,614 applications for changes to addresses; 1,800 requests for changes in personal particulars; 6,600 applications for replacement ID cards; and 705 requests for photo retakes.
