As the scheduled 25 days for the National Recount swiftly draws to an end, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has gone silent on the way forward.
Currently there are four days and 1,049 boxes left to be recounted. Meeting this deadline would require the recount teams to process in excess of 260 boxes per day; these teams have not been able to amass a daily total of 90 on any of the 21 days that have so far elapsed.
Yesterday, a total of 84 boxes were processed. According to GECOM spokesperson Yolanda Ward that number included 19 from District Three, 15 from District Four, 21 from District Six, 10 from District Seven, 10 from District Eight and nine from District Nine.
Ward also indicated that of the 1,290 boxes counted a total of 1,254 General Statements of Recount and 1,253 Regional Statements of Recount have been tabulated.
She did not say whether the Commission has made a decision on a new timeline or the addition of more workstations to increase the pace of the recount.
In fact, according to executive member of the People’s Progressive Party, Anil Nandlall the Commission appears to still be waiting on communication from the National COVID-19 Taskforce.
Nandlall told reporters last evening that the recount is lagging far behind and noted that the Commission will have to consider an extension to the timeline.
He further noted that during a conversation with Chairperson Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh on Monday he had been assured of an update on the possibility of two new workstations by 10 am on Tuesday.
This update was not received as according to Nandlall the chair continues to await a green light from the COVID-19 Taskforce.
“The COVID-19 taskforce is holding GECOM at ransom,” he charged.
He maintained that the taskforce is a political unit which acts on a political agenda which aligns with the interests of its members who are politicians.
“It will never act in a politically impartial manner,” Nandlall contended, while arguing that agents representing the APNU+AFC Coalition continue to act in a manner designed to delay the recount particularly in District Four.
“GECOM as a unit is constitutionally independent …and does not need the extraneous direction of any taskforce,” he stressed.
The former Attorney General also argued for the third time that death certificates being presented by the coalition have been illegally obtained.
According to Nandlall he has been approached by relatives of Chitnanadani Ramdass to challenge the inclusion of her death certificate in the recount process.
The coalition has presented this certificate as “proof” that at least one person recorded as casting a ballot on March 2 was dead before that time.
Ramdass died on June 8, 2015.
According to Nandlall the certificate could only be accessed by the party if it has received “notarized” permission from the next of kin.
He cites as support for this argument Section 33 (3) of the Access to Information Act, which provides that, “A document referred to in subsection (1) shall not be released without the notarized consent of the person who is the subject of the information in the document. Pursuant to subsection (5), in the case of a deceased person, only his next of kin can give consent to access.”
He however did not note that subsection (1) specifies that the prohibition refers only to documents the disclosure of which would involve the unreasonable disclosure of information relating to the personal affairs of any person (including a deceased person).
A death certificate lists the name, age, place and cause of death of a deceased. It is not clear if access to any of this information constitutes “unreasonable disclosure of …personal affairs” .
Further, Section 40 (2) of the Registration of Birth and Death Act, provides that everyone shall be entitled on payment of fees prescribed…to search the indices…and to have extracted therefrom a sealed certificate of death.
This fee is further described as $300 on the website of the Guyana Post Office Corporation (GPOC).
In the midst of these issues the Commission continues to count and tabulate ballots. On Monday it completed the 158 boxes in District Five. The tabulation for this district was completed yesterday.
Based on the process broadcast by the Commission, a total of 33,375 valid votes were cast at the General Elections in the District while 33,378 were cast in the Regional Elections.
These numbers closely resemble those declared by Returning Officer Laikharam Pancham on March 4. Pancham had declared that 33,374 and 33,383 votes were cast in the General and Regional Elections respectively.
Table showing the difference between the total number of ballot boxes and the number of ballot boxes counted for each electoral district.
Table showing the tabulated results of the General and Regional Elections in Electoral District Five- Mahaica/Berbice following the National Recount. The numbers broadcast nationally are contrasted with those in the declaration signed by the Returning Officer and submitted to the Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield.
