Alexander concerned as GECOM lags on crucial matters closer to elections

Aug 01, 2025 News

Opposition-appointed GECOM Commissioner, Vincent Alexander

Kaieteur News – Opposition-appointed Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Commissioner, Vincent Alexander has raised concerns about GECOM’s stance on a number of crucial issues weeks before the elections.

According to Alexander critical appointments such as Deputy Returning Officers (DROs) and Senior Deputy Returning Officers (SDROs) are still pending approval.

Alexander told Kaieteur News that the Commission had retained legal counsel without opposition appointed commissioners being aware. He noted that Western diplomats from ABCE countries were given the impression that the attorney [Winston] Astaphan was retained to fill the void of internal counsel.

“We are now belatedly told that the retention was for specific cases. The majority have now decided to retain him even as attempts will be made to recruit an internal legal officer before the conduct of elections,” Alexander said in a brief statement to the newspaper.

Further, he noted that GECOM had taken a majority decision to not colour code non-resident ballots as provided for in law. He had explained that without the colour code on the non-resident ballot there will be confusion in the tabulation process.

In addition to this, the opposition commissioner stated that there have been some internal concerns about the sourcing of millions of dollars worth of stationery which the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) is yet to address.

“After three weeks the CEO fails to provide requested information on GECOM’S sole sourcing,” Alexander said in relation to information he requested about the procurement of the items.

Following a statutory meeting of the commission in June, Alexander had emphasized the need for approval of the Deputy Returning Officers (DROs) and Deputy Supernumerary Returning Officer (SDRO). He had noted that a number of issues remain unresolved, including the issue of voting by the incarcerated, Alexander said. Alexander stressed the Commission is awaiting advice from the Attorney General, Anil Nandlall.

Meanwhile, the Commission is continuing its work to produce a final list of electors. Kaieteur News understands that the list is still in the process by which GECOM shall make all the necessary removals from, and corrections to extract the official list of electors. Deputy Chief Election Officer (CEO), Aneal Giddings, told members of the press last June that more than 1,000 names of deceased persons have been removed from Guyana’s voters’ list. This is based on the list of registered deaths submitted by the General Register’s Office (GRO). Giddings said the removals were based on updated records received from the General Register Office, and the cleansing of the list remains an ongoing process.

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Deputy Returning Officers, Elections, GECOM, Vincent Alexander

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