Support Village Voice News With a Donation of Your Choice.
The approval by Parliament of the Local Authorities (Elections) (Amendment) Act No. 26 of 2009, provides for Local Government Elections to be held in all of the existing Seventy-one (71) Local Authority Areas in Guyana using a Mixed Electoral System of Proportional Representation and First-Past-the-Post. 50% or half of the number of Councillors of each Local Authority Area will be elected through the Proportional Representation component and the other 50% through the First-Past-the-Post or Constituency component.
This System provides opportunities for Voluntary Groups, Political Parties and Individual Candidates to contest for seats in the Municipalities and NDCs. ONLY Voluntary Groups and Political Parties can contest in the Proportional Representation aspect of Local Government Elections.
Voluntary Groups and Political Parties can also contest any or all of the seats under the Constituency component of the elections. The candidate(s) must be living in the Constituency being contested. Under the First-Past-The-Post Component, an individual candidate can contest for only one seat in a single Constituency in which he/she is registered and resides.
CONSTITUENCIES- Each Local Authority Area is divided into a given number of Constituencies, i.e., half of the number of seats on the Municipality or NDC, for the purpose of electing individual Candidates to represent the respective Constituencies.
A Constituency in the context of Local Government Elections is a specifically demarcated part of a Municipality or Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) as defined and identified by its given boundaries. A Candidate seeking election under the First-Past-the-Post or constituency component of the elections must be registered and living in the Constituency in which he/she is seeking to be elected as a Councillor. Detailed descriptions and sketch maps of all of the constituencies within the respective Municipalities and NDC’s are being displayed at prominent locations within all of the Local Authority Areas and on the GECOM website. Take the opportunity to get to know your Constituency.
(Source: Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development) |