AFC studying initial report on SOP verification

The AFC is currently examining a preliminary report on the verification of the statements of polls (SOPs) released by the Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom).

The party along with APNU has been carrying out a comparative analysis of the scanned copies of the documents against its own data collected on elections day.

AFC leader Raphael Trotman noted yesterday at a media briefing that the party has received a preliminary report from its pollsters on the verification exercise but he noted that the report is being perused by the party. He said that he could not disclose the contents of the preliminary report since “things can change between preliminary and final.”

He said that the party is also prepared to share copies of the SOPs with the press, since he noted that they are public documents. He said that the party has encouraged Gecom to place the information on its website, citing transparency and democracy as pivotal goals in the Guyanese society.

APNU is expected to release its findings on that party’s verification of the SOPs today.

A party official told this newspaper on Monday that the process was being undertaken to ensure accuracy and as a result the persons carrying out the verification process were given time to do their work. The coalition had expressed concern about the format in which the documents were released by GECOM and noted that it would press for the original copies of the documents to be made available to the party.