| Through the Guyana Council of Organizations for Persons with Disabilities a few thousand persons with and without disabilities have been sensitised of their civic duty and constitutional right to vote. The entity is expecting more persons to participate in this year’s national elections.This is according to the body’s Chairperson, Leon Walcott,Cheap Jerseys Store, who emphasised that voters with disabilities at times experience difficulties when they want to exercise their franchise, not through any fault of the administration or Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), but the country’s cultural view of persons with disabilities.Walcott noted that the United States Agency For International Development (USAID) provided a reimbursable grant of US$18,Cheap Jerseys Paypal,082 as part of its Governance Enhancement Project. The project ends on December 31 and so far persons in Regions Two,Wholesale Jerseys China, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven and 10 have been reached.Leon Walcott“It has come at a time when we have a Person with Disability Act which was signed into law last November by President Bharrat Jagdeo. This Act outlines the various rights of persons with disabilities,NFL Jerseys Store, now persons with disabilities cannot exist in a vacuum,” Walcott said.Apart from persons with disabilities, The Guyana Council is training persons without disabilities who are the key stakeholders in the disability movement including parents, teachers,Wholesale Jerseys China, caregivers, members of the community such as religious and social leaders, and even some GECOM personnel.He related that the programme is down to its final stages and based on feedback many persons with disabilities, their caregivers and other stakeholders did not realize that so many rights were enshrined in the law empowering persons with disabilities.Walcott added that many persons with disabilities have expressed confidence that they can now go and vote, since they will know how to explain to the presiding officers and polling workers what their rights are under the constitution.“In fact, many of them did not even know that registration is compulsory and their caregivers did not also know. So we had to point out to them that if you don’t register these persons under your charge it’s a criminal offence,” Walcott stressed.He enlightened that many of them benefited from the reopening of GECOM’s Claims and Objections period. Though the body does not have figures to present, Walcott stated that from feedback many of them took the opportunity to register.It was noted that if a person is bedridden,Wholesale NHL Jerseys, he or she can appoint a proxy voter. He emphasised that the closing date for acquiring a proxy is November 18. Persons have to apply to GECOM for the proxy and both parties must be registered at the same polling station. |
