GECOM appoints regional elections managers

Nine Returning Officers were this morning sworn in before Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield for the upcoming General and Regional elections.

One Returning officer, for Region Five, has not yet been selected.

The Returning Officers manage GECOM’s returning offices in each region. They report to the Chief Elections Officer and are responsible for the proper conduct of the poll within his/her polling district, including identifying voting places before the elections. They maintain close coordination with the CEO and the elections secretariat, supervise the work of the Deputy Returning Officers and all elections officials within the district, and assist training instructors with the training of polling day officials.

The officers selected are all employees of GECOM’s sub-offices in their respective regions. They were sworn in at GECOM’s headquarters, Kingston, Georgetown.

Those appointed were: Trevor Harris- Region 1; Roxanne Smith- Region 2; Mohanlall Jagdeo- Region 3; Clairmont Mingo- Region 4; Savitri Mangar- Region 6; Glendon Fredericks-Region 7; Dwayne Marco- Region 8; John Abraham- Region 9; and Rensford Alleyne- Region 10.

“I am heartened by the fact that you are all part and parcel of the GECOM family and will therefore have intimate knowledge of your respective areas,” the CEO noted.

He told the officers that “as you have sworn that you will carry out these duties…with impartiality means a lot – that you will treat every elector in fair and impartial manner. That is an absolute necessity.”

Their work starts immediately, he noted.

The process was observed by GECOM Chairman Justice (retired) Claudette Singh.

In her remarks, the Chairperson urged that the officers perform their duties with integrity and also seek to solve any issues which may arise in a timely manner since they will the first to blame if anything goes wrong.

“Resolve problems in the best way you can, do not wait for things to escalate,” she noted.

Three Ballot Officers for the Disciplined Services vote were also sworn in. The Disciplined Services officers will vote seven to ten days before the March 2^nd elections.

Ballot officer for the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) is Roxanne Ramdyhan-Lewi while Ballot Officer for the Guyana Police Force (GPF) is Nardeo Persaud; and Onicia Bynoe was sworn in as Ballot Officer for the Guyana Prison Service.

The swearing in took place ahead of Nominations Day which is set for Friday when a total of 19 parties are expected to submit their lists of candidates for the elections.