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Failures of agents of contesting political parties cannot be attributed to GECOM
DEAR EDITOR,
I have served as a Deputy Returning Officer (DRO) in recent General and Regional Elections in Guyana (2006, 2011 & 2015) and while I have no authority to speak on behalf, or in defence, of GECOM I can honestly attest to my personal knowledge and experience of the conduct of elections in Georgetown (North & South). I am also aware that my comments in these pages have disqualified me from participating in future elections management but it is my purpose here to refute two (2) of the more uninformed, vulgar and mischievous criticisms and comments directed at GECOM in the public media which are:
1) That GECOM should have been prepared and ready to conduct general and regional elections within three (3) months; and
2) GECOM’s staff failed to meet acceptable standards of integrity, neutrality, transparency and fairness and that GECOM is “a national disgrace”.
Firstly, it is my contention that the two main requirements for the delivery of elections at all are the existence of a properly functioning Commission and the availability of adequate resources for the conduct of elections. It is glaringly apparent that while the passage of the No Confidence Vote (NCV) while seeming to demand the holding of elections within 3 months on the one hand, also seemed to demand the termination of the executive and legislative branches of government thereby foreclosing on the possibility of the allocation of resources for that purpose. The dysfunction and inertia of the Commission that followed the NCV and led to the resignation of the Chairman also inhibited the proper functioning of the Commission and its ability to manage the necessary and urgent election preparations. Notwithstanding these constraints it should be recognized that preparations for, and the conduct of, elections is complex and resource, and time, consuming and it is not, and has never been, the case that GECOM is required to be in a state of permanent and perpetual readiness.
It is not a secret, or is it complicated to grasp, that GECOM’s small permanent establishment and limited budget, in between elections, makes it impossible to hold elections in three months or a similarly short period of time. Its permanent staff in the Georgetown Registration Offices number less than 100 persons and it would require approximately 2,000 temporary staff to be identified, trained, selected and assigned in an open and transparent process to the more than 400 polling stations in Georgetown plus an additional 60 persons (at least) to function as election managers (Deputy Returning Officers, Election Clerks and Clerical Assistants). GECOM operates approximately 2,300 polling stations across the country and would need to recruit at least 10,000 persons to adequately administer the elections. Additionally issues relating to the sourcing and distribution of election materials and supplies as well as all necessary logistical and statutory arrangements require much more time than is envisaged by the NCV.
Secondly, I wish to attest to my experience that GECOM’s training and selection procedures for recruiting election workers are quite transparent and uncompromising in its technical, professional and ethical aspects. During my service I have worked with elections managers and polling day staff of various backgrounds, ethnicities and political affiliations who have always performed diligently, conscientiously and fairly and I have had good relations with polling agents of all parties and while errors were made on occasions there was never any plan or intent to favour one party over another. Agents of contesting political parties have the ability to scrutinize every aspect of election related activity and their failures cannot be attributed to GECOM and its hard-working staff who perform admirable and valued public service often under difficult circumstances.
Sincerely
Oscar Dolphin
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