Story and photos by Nafeeza Yahya
FROM the sounds of horns and bells at approximately 04:00hrs on Monday morning to the close of polls at 18:00hrs, polling day 2020 in Region Six, was described as smooth, quiet and incident-free. This was according to Divisional Commander Calvin Brutus at around 18:30hrs on Monday night.  The commander noted that apart from a few rumours of residents ganging up at polling stations and a political party campaigning, there were no incidents of violence nor disturbances in his division. Nevertheless, the regional Top Cop stressed that there will be mass patrols throughout the night, as well as increased security at the office of the returning officer for District Six in Adventure village, East Berbice-Corentyne.

The views of the commander of an incident-free and smooth process was shared by independent observers who spoke with the Guyana Chronicle. Mohamed Raffik, President of the Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce and representing the Private Sector Commission, stated that the process was very efficient and without hiccups; however, it seemed to be taking a while to process voters at some polling stations. “All the polling stations we visited were opened on time and we are pleased with what we have seen so far, but will continue to observe well into the night until the final tallying is done and declared by the returning officer” As expected , the turnout for the regional and national elections was much more than the last local government elections and most voters came out early in the morning to cast their ballots then returned to their normal business. Over at the Mibicuri School, where 1314 voters were expected to cast their ballots, over 80 per cent of the voters had already voted by the time this publication visited at around 15:00hrs.  Like most communities, there were lines early in the morning from around 06:00hrs up to around 10:00hrs. After that, the voters were trickling in until late afternoon when a few chose to come out in the cooler temperature. At Molsen Creek by 16:00hrs, 25 of the 32 voters had already cast their ballots.  Abdul Karim Rahim, 72, said he came out at around 07:30hrs and found the process to be much more effective and expeditious than the over 50 years that he has been voting. He

explained that the community is one that lives in harmony, as such, there were no incidents nor isssues. He is however hoping that whoever wins will honour
their promises and deliver to the people so that all can benefit.

Leader of the Federal United Party (FED-UP) Chandra Sohan, after casting his vote at the Sheet Anchor Primary School in Number Two village, said he was pleased with the voters turnout and was pleasantly surprised to still see a large number of voters at around 12:00hrs in line at the polling station.  The Sheet Anchor Primary school had some 1799 voters registered to cast their ballots at the four polling stations housed in the school. It was among the largest number of voters in Region Six for a single location. For Region Six there were a total of 99,131 registered voters at 378 polling places from the Amerindian Communities of Siparuta and Orealla in the East, to Mara on the East Bank of Berbice and along the riverine communities along the Berbice River/ Canje Creek areas. At Baracara along the Berbice River, a high turnout of voters was recorded early in the day as residents travelled by canoe to reach their polling stations. Notably present at the polling stations were several young voters who came out in their numbers to exercise their franchise. The elderly were not to be left behind as they too came out

with their families and voted. Even senior citizens with the assistance of wheelchairs as well as walkers and canes went to their respective polling stations throughout the Corentyne coast. Apart from the process that was described as lengthy in the morning session, the entire day was said to have been an exciting one for Berbicians.

Source: https://issuu.com/guyanachroniclee-paper/docs/guyana_chronicle_epaper_03_03_2020