By Johann Earle
Recounts were underway last evening in three regions after requests by the ruling PPP/C and the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) said the process would have an impact on the timeliness of the declaration of official results.
GECOM also said that Statements of Poll from districts 1, 7, 8 and 9 were yet to be received by mid afternoon yesterday.
Both major opposition parties APNU and AFC objected to the recounting, while TUF said it did not mind. The PPP/C did not release any details of its requests for recounts, but GECOM spokesperson Vishnu Persaud saidthat in region 4, the party requested recounts of ballots cast at 35 polling places in the city and 13 polling places along the East Bank of Demerara.
Speaking to the Stabroek News, Persaud explained that any recount of the ballots will take place at the Office of the Returning Officer for Region Four, the regions in which the polling stations in question are located. He said that the recounts can be sought by political parties that feel aggrieved, once the State-ments of Poll would have been completed and submitted for the particular polling station.
“Naturally this will have an impact on the timeliness of the declaration of the official results of the elections by the Chief Election Officer,” he said.
He said that after the close of poll on polling day, parties have up to midday the following day to raise an objection and request a recount of polls for that polling station. He said that the recount must be done in the presence of the polling day party agents and the Returning Officer for that region. Recounts were underway last evening although both APNU and AFC said that they would not participate in the recount process, while noting that no grounds had been presented for the requests by the PPP/C.
Depending on the outcome of the recounts, the data that is being streamed by GECOM’s television feed could be changed. The Office of the Returning Officer for Region 4, when contacted by this newspaper, said that no recount had started and referred inquiries to the Chief Elections Officer Gocool Boodoo.
At GECOM’s 2pm news conference, Persaud said Statements of Poll from districts 1, 7, 8 and 9 were yet to be received. “We had expected that the aircraft bringing the Statements from these districts would have touched down at the Ogle Airport at midday,” Persaud said.
Asked whether arrangements were not in place for the early return of the aircraft with Statements of Poll, Persaud said that because of the logistics involved, there had been no set time for the planes to come to the city. “It would have been foolish to fix a time,” he said. He said that the flights had been expected in the city late yesterday. He said that the flights were expected earlier in the day.
Meanwhile, contacted for comment, the overseas observer missions were hesitant to make a pronouncement on the issue. “We heard GECOM announce this (the PPP’s request for a recount) and they state that the law provides for any recounts requested by any political parties contesting the elections,” said Denis Marshall, Chief of Mission of the Common-wealth Observer Group.
John Enright, media liaison of the Organisation of American States, when questioned about the call for a recount, said that this is something best pronounced upon by GECOM itself. He said that it was “premature” for the observer party to comment on the issue.
The OAS, the Common-wealth and the CARICOM observer missions will all have press conferences today where is it expected that these issues will come up.
Asked about the PPP/C request for a recount, Simone Mangal of the Electoral Assistance Bureau said that her organization is not in a position to pronounce on the merits of a recount call since the results of the elections have not yet been announced and since the body has not been supplied with any communication from GECOM or the political parties about the recount.
The OAS, in a press release earlier in the day, said that it continues to monitor the results gathering process following Monday’s regional and general elections.
“We currently have observers present at the GECOM tabulation centre and in the office of the returning officer in Region 4 who are following each step of the result gathering and tabulation process. These observers have been present on a 24 hour basis since the close of polls,” said Professor Gordon Shirley. “I urge all actors in the electoral process to remain patient in awaiting the official voting results and to refrain from releasing unofficial election results before the GECOM have completed their work,” he added.
He said that credible and timely results are the “cornerstone of any electoral process” and the only official results are those released by the duly constituted electoral authority. “Releasing unconfirmed and unverified election results may lead to confusion among electors and party supporters and are not constructive,” said Professor Shirley.
The release said that the OAS\EOM will soon issue its preliminary report and recommendations on the elections process.
The OAS\EOM has fielded 25 observers from 14 countries throughout Guyana in view of Guyana’s general and regional elections and observers have been present in 9 of the country’s 10 administrative regions.
