Latest update February 9th, 2025 5:59 AM
Latest News
- “Oil-rich Guyana is worse off from the very start”- Glenn Lall
- Terrence Campbell to remain member of oil money Investment Committee despite transparency concerns in use of revenues
- Trump freezes aid to South Africa amid spat over land expropriation law
- 102 Venezuelans to be deported for illegally entering Guyana
- Man shoots woman with arrow and bow
Old ID cards to be decommissioned from Nov.1
– 30,000 new ones still to be collected
National Identification Cards issued before October 2009 are not valid for use in the upcoming local and general elections. As a matter of fact, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has announced that those cards will be decommissioned after October 31.
At the moment, GECOM which constitutionally is mandated to ensure that the processes are in place for the holding of national and local elections, has over 30,000 identification (ID) cards which are yet to be uplifted.
With the elections fast approaching, the non-collection has become a critical issue. It is believed that among the 30,000 persons, a number of them are dead, have migrated or have changed their address.
GECOM in a release addressing the issues yesterday noted that it took the unanimous decision on Tuesday to decommission all National Identification Cards issued before October 2009.
ID cards issued before October 2009 are to be decommissioned from November 1, and cannot be used to vote in the upcoming national elections.
“This decision was taken at the 335th Statutory Meeting of the Commission which was held on Tuesday, August 16, 2011. The effective date of the decommissioning will be November 1, 2011. Consequently, all ID cards issued before October, 2009 will not be valid for electoral purposes at General and Regional, and Local Government Elections.”
GECOM explained that in view of this decision, ID cards, both the “red” and “green” that were issued before October 2009 will not be accepted as a means of identification for voting at the upcoming elections.
“These cards will have no relationship with the Official List of Electors (OLE) to be produced for the General and Regional Elections – 2011.”
Since 2007, GECOM says it has been advising that citizens needed to be registered during the 2008 House-to-House Registration exercise, and during the subsequent “Continuous Registration and Claims and Objections” exercises.
“Further, GECOM had repeatedly published notices via the print and electronic media informing the public of this decommissioning eventuality, while emphasizing that it is absolutely urgent for persons who have not collected their new ID cards as yet to do so immediately.”
However, GECOM is still in possession of approximately 30,000 new ID cards for persons registered during the 2008 House-to-House Registration exercise, during the “Claims and Objections exercise for Local Government Elections (January-February, 2010), and during the 2nd Cycle of Continuous Registration (September-December, 2010)”.
On a related matter, GECOM disclosed that it has commenced the distribution of ID cards produced for persons who were registered during both phases of the recent Claims and Objections exercise.
National Identification Cards can be collected from the respective GECOM permanent Registration Offices across Guyana on Mondays to Fridays during normal working hours.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Due diligence on investments must become a priority
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News- In 1985, the Forbes Burnham government looking for economic salvation, entered into a memorandum... more
OAS Secretary General Election and renewed OAS Consensus
Antiguan Barbudan Ambassador to the United States, Sir Ronald Sanders By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- The upcoming election... more
Weekend Cartoon
