Dear Editor,
With full knowledge that Clairmont Mingo’s Region 4 declaration was based on unverified numbers and lacking credibility, the Chief Election Officer nevertheless used it to complete the tabulation of results for all 10 regions and attempted to have it declared as the final result. There was across-the-board objection to this.
Again after court review and various representations from accredited observers the world over and local Guyanese institutions, GECOM agreed to do a physical recount of each ballot in each ballot box from all 2339 polling stations.
Just prior to the start of the recount, Commissioner Gunraj moved a motion to have the Mingo Declaration of results declared null and void and removed from the record. The GECOM Chair voted against this motion and opted instead to hold the declaration in “abeyance”.
“An abeyance is a temporary halt to something, with the emphasis on `temporary.’ It is usually used with the word `in’ or `into’; `in abeyance’ suggests a state of waiting or holding. Different legal rights, like property rights, can be held in abeyance until matters are resolved”.
Since then, we have seen factual evidence that the numbers used by Mingo in the tabulation of results for Region 4 were wrong. We know this from the recount.
With evidence from the recount confirming that Mingo used false numbers in arriving at the results for Region 4, the declaration that is now held in abeyance should be discarded completely.
As I understand it, anything held in abeyance can become permanent. Therefore, knowing what we know today, it should not be allowed to exist any longer.
I believe that as long as the current Mingo declarations continue in abeyance, the APNU+AFC Coalition and GECOM and the COVID-19 Task Force will not act in good faith and allow the recount to conclude normally. As such, the declaration that is currently in abeyance can become permanent. I believe this to be highly likely.
As of Saturday, 528 Boxes have been recounted – 22.5% of the total. From this sample, there has been no significant discrepancy between the recount and the statements of poll. Other than proving that Mingo’s results for Region 4 were fraudulent, the recount also proves that the statements of poll issued on Election Day are accurate. It is reasonable to expect that this same condition will exist in the remaining 1811 boxes.
What is important to note is that after 11 days of recounting, 528 boxes were counted. From this point we could expect an average of 60 boxes per day to be counted. Therefore in the remaining 14 days, only 840 of the remaining boxes can be counted. There is no way the recount can be completed in 25 days, even with the introduction of additional work stations.
Conditions are ripe for matters to remain unresolved; either after 25 days of recount or for any other number of reasons. At the end of the 25 days for recount, the temporary status of the Mingo and Lowenfield declaration could automatically become permanent. This will not be good for Guyana. This is a lose, lose and lose scenario.
Accordingly, I am suggesting that Commissioner Gunraj should go back to GECOM with the following motions:
1. That the declaration currently held in abeyance be declared null and void.
2. That having established from a large enough sample that the recount is confirming the accuracy of the statements of poll; that the decision is taken to complete the recount process using statements of poll.
Yours faithfully,
Sase Shewnarain
