GECOM does not foresee any complications in preparing for 2025 elections

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM)’s Elections Secretariat has expressed confidence in its ability to hold the 2025 General and Regional Elections when they are constitutionally due.

This was affirmed by Chief Elections Officer, Vishnu Persaud during a press conference at GECOM office on Friday.

He explained that the Secretariat has not been formally mandated to engage in preparations for the 2025 General and Regional elections, but they are aware of their responsibility to be prepared.

“I do not see such preparations, the activities associated with such preparations, posing any difficulties for us at the Secretariat, considering that the procedures for the conduct of those elections have not changed. They are the same. We know what we have to do,” he said.

However, Persaud underscored that there are several prerequisites which do not require directives, such as training for staff.

This training process does not form part of the electoral cycle, which typically spans six months.

“So, in that regard, we are currently reviewing the manuals for presiding officers…and in the second instance, we are looking at the manual for returning officers and other management staff like the clerks and the deputy returning officers,” he said.

This exercise is likely to be completed by the end of next week. Once this is completed, the Secretariat will begin identifying persons to be trained to work for the elections, starting with the training of trainers.

“We are likely to advertise for those persons during December, so that the training could be done in January. Then we would move to the management staff that being candidates for the position of returning officers, clerk to returning officers and deputy returning officers,” Persaud explained.

He reminded that the Representation of the People Act (ROPA) now provides those regions three, four and six be split into sub-regions for which supernumerary returning officers will be appointed.

This move will enable easier tabulation of votes in these larger districts.

Addressing the issue of removing deceased persons from the National Register of Registrants (NRR), Persaud also explained that the Secretariat is verifying and removing these persons using death returns from the General Register Office and reports from the Chief Medical Officer and Commissioner of Police.

This is in keeping with the Representation of the People Act.