On March 14, 2020 Region Four Returning Officer (RO) Clairmont Mingo denied the requests by eight of the ten parties that contested the March 2 general and regional elections for recounts and this is now a major source of contention.
According to the letters Mingo wrote in response to the requests none of the “counting agents” had been legally appointed.
“RO denied requests for recount since none of the parties adhered to the statutory timeline for the appointment of counting agents,” a GECOM advisory stated.
“In this regard, no counting agent was duly appointed for any parties and only a counting agent can request a recount,” it further explained.
The law stipulates that a counting agent is to be named seven days before the polls.
Specifically Section 24 (2) of the Representation of the People’s Act specifies that notice in writing of every appointment of an assistant agent, counting agent and polling agent, stating the name and address of the person appointed shall be given not later than the 7th day before election day by the election agent to the returning officer of the district for which the assistant agent or counting agent is appointed.
Section 24 (3) further notes that the returning officer shall upon receiving a notice of an appointment of an assistant agent give public notice of the name and address of the person appointed.
While the parties have claimed that they complied with the requirements in naming the agent, Stabroek News has been unable to confirm same.
In a statement on Facebook, Executive member of the People’s Progressive Party Anil Nandlall claimed that each political party has evidence, in writing that they appointed their counting agents and notified the Chief Election Officer and the Returning Officer.
However, Stabroek News reached out to the PPP/C for a copy of the letter written to Mingo with no success.
Asked whether his party would make the letter public General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo said that it is part of the submissions made to the court when the party applied for an injunction.
Attempts to sources a similar document from the Liberty and Justice Party also failed as the party agent promised to a return a call but up to press time had not done so.
The Citizenship Initiative shared a letter dated February 17 which was addressed to Public Relations Officer Yolanda Ward.
Asked why the letter was addressed to the PRO and not the RO or Chief Election Officer, Shazaam Ally who is the representative of the lists of candidates indicated that the party had been advised to direct all accreditation letters to the PRO.
Speaking on behalf of A New United Guyana (ANUG), Timothy Jonas acknowledged that his party did not meet the seven day deadline.
ANUG, he explained notified Mingo of their agents via email on March 1.
All the parties maintain that the Returning Officer met with the identified counting agents and briefed them about their roles and responsibilities, then fully interacted with them on Polling Day and during the tabulation exercise on March 3 and 4, 2020 before there was a breakdown of this exercise.
“It must be emphasized that the request for the count is a mandatory facility, granted by the law and therefore, cannot be lawfully refused,” Nandlall maintained.
