Polling agents for the ruling PPP/C walked out as recounting of votes got underway in Region 3 last evening.
Following requests by the PPP/C to the Guyana Elec-tions Commission (GECOM), a recount of the ballots cast by voters at some polling places in the district began shortly after 6 pm at the office of the Deputy Returning Officer at New Road, Vreed-en-Hoop.
Some six party representatives were at the location when 30 ballots boxes were being prepared for the recount and they began to raise objections as the process got underway. A representative of the group told this newspaper that when the first ballot box was opened and the ballots were being counted, the group objected to the passing of ballots which were not stamped.
He said that some seven ballots were observed as not having the required stamp and he noted that as the process continued other ballots which were in the party’s favour were being discarded. He explained that the marks placed by the voter had touched the line while other ballots “had some kind of stain or paint on them.” He said while these were being negotiated with the GECOM staff, the group, which was led by party activist Bibi Shadick, objected to the process and walked out of the building.
When this newspaper arrived at the scene shortly after 7:30 pm, polling day staff sat outside the building as recounting got underway. A staff member noted that two party agents attached to the AFC briefly visited the location. There was no representative from the coalition APNU.
Shortly after 8 pm, a boisterous and angry Shadick emerged from the building with other party officials and the group charged that GECOM was being unfair in the recounting process. The police officers present at the location then entered the building as the group vented its dissatisfaction at the process.
The group noted that they were going to raise the matter with the hierarchy of the party in order to have “justified” results. According to a GECOM staffer, the PPP/C polling agents seemed dissatisfied with the decisions taken by the DRO and his staff, who supervised the process. He said that from the inception, the group appeared unsatisfied with the manner in which the process was being undertaken.
Some 20 minutes after the incident, the ballot boxes were regrouped into the container, which is located in the compound of the DRO’s office.
Yesterday afternoon the opposition AFC and APNU refused to participate in the recounting process, with the latter noting that it would not have recognised the recounted results. In a statement, the AFC said that it was gravely concerned about the inadequacy of information on the recount process and the “total absence of grounds” on which these recounts have been sought.
