With all the ballot boxes transported yesterday to the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), the recount of votes from the March 2nd elections is finally set to begin this morning even though there was a late concern raised by the PPP that the Chief Election Officer should not have sole possession of the crucial Statements of Recount at any time.
The PPP’s objections were communicated in a statement yesterday in which it pointed out what it sees as a defect in the recount order which was gazetted on Monday. It is unclear why it had not pointed out this flaw to its commissioners on GECOM.
The PPP cited Clause eight of the Order under which the recount is to be conducted.
It states: “The Statement of Recount (SOR) shall be signed by the person conducting the recount and by the representative of each contesting party present, in the presence of the CARICOM scrutinizing team, representatives of Political Parties that contested the said elections, international and Local Observers accredited by the Guyana Elections Commission and advisors to the Guyana Elections Commission. These documents shall be lodged with the Chief Election Officer and copies distributed to the signatories thereto, the CARICOM scrutinizing team, the Chairman and the Commissioners.”
This means, the PPP said, that for a period of time unknown, the Chief Election Officer, Keith Lowenfield shall have sole custody of these documents and shall have the sole responsibility of making copies of them for distribution, without any oversight, whatsoever, before they are shared to the other persons named in the provision.
“We have vehement objections to the SORs being in the sole possession of the Chief Election Officer for the purpose of making copies, without any oversight and scrutiny. This is the very Chief Election Officer, who has unlawfully refused to make SOPs (Statements of Poll) in his possession public and has also withheld them from the Commissioners of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) despite their repeated request.
“We recommend that when the necessary information is recorded on each SOR upon the completion of the recount of each ballot box and before that SOR is signed by anyone that the relevant number of copies be made, then signed by all the persons who are entitled to do so and be distributed to the different persons entitled to possession of them; so that if there is any discrepancies, it can be detected before the relevant persons sign them”, the PPP said.
It is unclear whether this objection will be addressed this morning.
The ballot boxes were moved from GECOM’s Kingston Headquarters where they were being safeguarded for two months on a shift basis by a group called Guardians of Democracy, ordinary citizens and politicians.
The containers with ballot boxes were escorted by the police force’s armoured vehicle and under the watch of members of the Guardians of Democracy group and party representatives.
This is the second trip to Liliendaal for the ballot boxes. They were there for an earlier recount which was aborted after APNU+AFC candidate Ulita Moore secured an injunction from the court. That injunction was later discharged.
Public Relations Officer of the Guyana Elections Commission Yolanda Ward yesterday told Stabroek News that arrangements were being finalised up to late yesterday afternoon.
She said this is being done so as to ensure that GECOM is “set and ready” for a “prompt” start today. “We are currently finalizing all of the arrangements here but we will be set and ready for a prompt 8 o’clock start tomorrow morning,” Ward said.
Ward explained that systems have been put in place in keeping with the recount order. “Whatever the order dictates we have put systems in place……Administratively, all that the order has indicated we should be doing, we will be complying with that,” Ward added.
According to the Order the recount shall commence with the allocation of 10 work stations as follows: District 1 – two work stations; District 2 – two work stations; District 3 – three work stations and District 4 – three work stations.
The recount for District 4 shall continue at the three work stations assigned to it while the recounts for Districts 5 through 10 shall be conducted based on the completion of, and at the work stations assigned to, Districts 1, 2 and 3.
Eight of the work stations will have a maximum of 14 persons comprising four GECOM staff, party agents and observers. Two work stations will have 10 persons. Coronavirus precautions are to be observed.
During a stakeholders’ meeting on Saturday at the ACCC, the parties had argued that given the public suspicion of the secretariat, a live streaming of the process would allow for transparency which would foster an acceptance of the eventual results.
The order provides that there shall be installed in each workstation a facility which shall capture and broadcast, only, the following: A picture of the ballot box depicting the state in which it is delivered to the workstation; An audio feed of the recount process while an audio-visual facility is expected to be established in the tabulation centre which shall broadcast live the entire tabulation process for each district.
According to Ward, the audio broadcast will be streamed on GECOM’s Facebook and YouTube platforms. It is unclear if there will be an audio stream for each of the 10 work stations.
GECOM is executing the recount as an exercise of the authority vested under Article 162 of the Constitution and pursuant to Section 22 of the Elections Law (Amendment) Act, No. 15 of 2000 in the Commission.
These provisions have been cited as “necessary and expedient for the removal of difficulties which have arisen in respect of the finalization and declaration of results for the General and Regional Elections held on the 2nd March 2020.”
The electoral crisis mushroomed over the count for District Four, when its Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo was accused on March 5th of presenting fictitious figures on a spreadsheet. Five major observer groups had found his tabulation not to be credible, including the CARICOM observer mission.
The Head of that mission, Cynthia Combie-Martyr had on March 6th urged that GECOM proceed with the establishment of the results for District Four in keeping with the law.
Meanwhile, as it relates to safety and security, the Guyana Police Force yesterday said that they will be in charge of all security arrangements during the recount of the votes.
“The Guyana Police Force (GPF) is informing the citizenry that as the premier law enforcement organization in the state of Guyana and in keeping with its mandate of maintaining safety and security, it will be in charge of all security arrangements during the recount of the ballots for the March 2nd, 2020 General and Regional Elections,” the police in a press release said.
It noted that ranks will also be providing security escorts during this period.
Observers
Last week, GECOM had invited all observer missions which had been accredited for the March 2 elections to return to observe the recount of the votes cast.
The CARICOM team is entitled to be present during the recount and the regional tabulations which follow. At the end of the process the CARICOM team shall submit a report to the Commission which may include their observations, recommendations, and conclusions.
The Carter Center which is one of the five missions so far accredited had attempted to have one member of its team travel to Guyana on Monday to observe the process but failed to secure permission from the Government.
Up to last night, there had been no further word on their arrival here.
Stabroek News was reliably informed that local observers were also not briefed. However, they are expected to show up at the ACCC at 7.30am today.
In a statement on the commencement of the recount, Presidential candidate of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic, Irfaan Ali yesterday afternoon said GECOM is entering the process with a “stain” – “denying” international observers the opportunity to observe the process.
“….This of course has harmed and will continue to harm us. There was no reasoning, there is no rational behind such a decision, to deny an international observer or observers the right to observe these elections. These observers were accredited,” Ali said.
Such a decision, Ali said leaves more questions than answers. “These are decisions that lead to mistrust in the system,” he said.
“Free, fair and transparent” process
In the statement which was posted on his Facebook page, Ali called for the recount process to be a fair and transparent one.
“As the recount process commences tomorrow (today) I call on all the staff from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), who are part of this process to be fair, to be honest, to be true patriotic, to put country first, to put Guyanese first and to ensure … a process that is accountable …and demonstrates the will of the Guyanese people,” Ali said.
According to Ali, Guyanese is currently experiencing many “testing times”.
“….It has been a long period. Our country is going through many testing times. Not only in relation to COVID-19, our economy, businesses, the Private Sector. Every single segment of the Guyanese population is hurting. We have to do what is right,” he said.
“Tomorrow (today) GECOM has an opportunity to demonstrate to the world at large that they could do what is right, that they can do what is honest, that they can do so with dignity, that they can hold their head up high and say we have done it with a clear conscience, we have do what is right for our country, we have act in a fair manner, in a transparent manner and in an accountable manner,” Ali further stated.
The PPP, Ali said has demonstrated to the country its willingness to be open and transparent. “We have made our statements of poll public. We went as far as asking for the tally sheets to be made public. We have embraced every single aspect, or every single idea that was bought forward to enhance transparency in this process. We have asked for live streaming, video live streaming. Every area that requires a decision from us to enhance transparency, we have supported those decisions,” he noted.
