Following a day of voting that began before the crack of dawn for many, Guyanese were up to this morning awaiting the declaration of results from polling stations across the country.
Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield announced that at the close of polls at 6 pm, except for a few glitches which were being investigated, voting went smoothly throughout the day.
And although Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) Chairman Dr Steve Surujbally called for persons to desist from milling around polling stations, up to last night residents in many communities were standing outside polling places in dark, waiting for the results.
One such person at Plaisance told Stabroek News that he refused to move from in front of the polling station because he did not want the votes in his area to be tampered with. “These people are trying to do all the illegalities to protect their ill-gotten acts. They know they will lose because the people have lost confidence in them. Look at Rohee, he doesn’t have the intellectual, moral calibre to hold any office. His actions today show it,” he stated. “History has a tendency to repeat itself but now the electorate is educated now. We will not allow any skullduggery to happen with our ballots,” he said impassionedly.
Meanwhile, residents at Mon Repos were incensed after they saw a group of “suspicious” looking men entering a polling place. Over 300 men were standing in front of the Mon Repos Primary School after the polls closed at 6 pm. “We come to represent our votes…we won’t move. When the count finish, we will but for now we are taking care of our rights,” one man said.
Four vehicles filled with police were dispatched to the school to settle the crowd. However, the men refused to leave.
“This is not long time. We have a right to protect we box,” another man stated.
Residents also lined the streets last night at La Bonne Intention waiting for the results. “We are excited for the results to come out tonight,” a woman said.
Over 570,000 persons were registered to vote at the 2,299 polling stations designated across the country.
Georgetown
In the capital, the overcast weather conditions did not deter voters, many of whom assembled at polling stations long before the scheduled 6 am opening of the polls.
Persons turned up at the St Gabriel’s Primary School to cast their ballot from as early as 5 am. Although there were long lines, by midmorning this had eased up. It was the same situation across the country.
Among those in the line at St Gabriel’s was 91-year-old Agnes Arno, of Queenstown, who said afterward that she had to come out and make her vote count. She noted that she has been waiting for this day for months. She has voted for years and this year was not going to be different. A neighbour, she said, woke her up very early and brought her out. APNU+AFC member Keith Scott told polling officials that they should remove huge photographs of President Donald Ramotar, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and Education Minister Priya Manickchand from the walls of at least one polling station, which is a classroom on a normal school day. A poster with all former government ministers was also removed.
Observers from the Organisation of American States (OAS) observer mission were also present at the polling place. Their Chief of Mission Ambassador Lisa Shoman noted that it was the first station they had visited for the day and that she was happy they had opened on time and that the process seemed to be running smoothly. She did, however, point out that not all polling rooms had party agents from the two main political parties but she expected that the situation would have been rectified shortly.
A polling station at the Central High School, in Werk-en-Rust, came under scrutiny yesterday after close to 50 voters realised that they were being supplied with ballots that were not stamped with the official six digit stamp as per normal.
Stabroek News was told that the stamp, which is used to print the digits on the ballots before they are given to the voters, had been damaged. As a result, polling officials resorted to writing the numbers on the ballot instead. This did not sit well with voters, who feared that their votes would be counted as a result.
One of the voters told Stabroek News that the voting process had begun with the stamp being absent and resulted in the first 49 voters casting their votes on unstamped ballots.
The man, who chose to remain unnamed, described the incident as “a big mistake by Gecom,” while doubting assurances by Lowenfield that the votes would still be counted.
Speaking on the incident, Lowenfield confirmed that the stamp was broken but reported that it has since been replaced. He also asserted that the votes of the unstamped ballots would still be seen as valid votes.
Apart from broken ballot stamp at Central High School, when Stabroek News visited other polling stations around central Georgetown, the process appeared to be running smoothly.
By mid-morning at polling stations around central Georgetown, few persons were seen entering or leaving the polling stations. This was the case at Christ Church Secondary, St Rose’s High School, the Bishops’ High School, Saint Stanislaus College, Winfer Gardens Primary, South Road Nursery, Smith’s Memorial Primary, St Stephen’s Primary, Ketley Primary, the Nurses’ Association of Guyana, the Palm’s Geriatric Home and the YWCA, which all served as polling places.
However, other polling places, such as stations at the Freeburg Secondary School, St Sidwell’s Primary and Thomas Moore Primary, had persons lined up awaiting their opportunity to vote.
But as the close of polls drew near, almost all seemed deserted. However, this did not stop Gordon Nedd, who didn’t try to hide his smile as he walked out of the YWCA as the last person to vote before the polling place was closed. “I was doing business all day. I tried to get here earlier and I told myself I’m gonna make it,” offered Nedd.
Several persons were also seen gathering outside polling stations at St. Sidwell’s, Charlestown Secondary, Smith’s Memorial and Freeburg Secondary School as they closed their gates to the general public.
As a result of high voter turn-out, in some areas in Kitty people waited as long as four hours to cast their ballots early Monday.
Speaking with Stabroek News at the J.E. Burnham Primary School, Presha Charles said that she arrived at the polling station at 8 am but was not able to vote until approximately noon.
There was only one doorway through which people from several lines had to enter and a voter said the police on duty was “a bit confused” as who should go when. This confusion, she said, resulted in the lines moving slowly, causing some people to become agitated. However, by midday, there was only about 30 people at this location waiting to vote.
Charles’ younger sister, Alana, who just turned 18 years, said that she was excited to be voting for the first time. She said she was voting for a change because she needs a “good job” when she finishes writing CSEC exams this year. According to her, she has seen colleagues who have good grades struggle to find jobs.
By midday, voting seemed to be relatively fast and lines were almost non-existent at several other polling stations in the Kitty area. There was no line at the FE Pollard Primary School, where voters were able to walk in and out within 10 minutes. The same can be said of voting at the Rama Krishna Primary School. Voter Simeon Charles told Stabroek News that it took him less than 10 minutes to vote at the polling station.
At Lamaha Springs, voting was peaceful although some voters had to wait over four hours to vote at Saul’s residence, which was a designated polling place. A voter who arrived at the station at 7.50 am did not get to vote until 12.15 pm. According to the voter, it was because the polling station only had one voting compartment.
When Stabroek News arrived at Saul’s residence, there were 85 people in the line. Voters took about 5 minutes on average to cast their ballot.
Lewis’ residence, which was also used as a polling station in Lamaha Springs, saw a more efficient process and the voters left earlier than the voters at Saul’s.
‘Drinking to the change’
People were standing as early as 4 am in front of polling stations on the East Coast Demerara. However, the long lines snaking into community grounds and onto the streets had decreased by 9 am, leaving polling stations nearly deserted, save for Gecom officials and some local observers.
Later in the day, many villagers refused to leave the polling stations, stating that they were waiting until their votes were counted. The villagers cried out for change and stood in front of the Plaisance Health Centre “drinking to the change.”
One man said villagers were “so excited for change” that they got up early to cast their votes. “We too excited to wait till later to go and vote. We excited for this change and we gon drink to it,” he said, before adding that most people had finished voting by 8 am.
Along the lower East Coast, voting proceeded smoothly in the early morning, although there were lines at some stations by mid-morning. At around 7 am at the Mon Repos Primary School, it took approximately five minutes from the time a voter entered the polling station to the time he or she left. At this polling station, an orderly line of over 100 persons waited patiently.
By 9 am at a polling station at Goedverwagting, there was also a line of about 100 persons. Graham’s Hall Primary School had an orderly line of over 100 persons around 9.15 am. At the National Aquatic Centre, at Liliendaal, a crowd of about 50 persons patiently waited at about 9.30 am.
There was a late start to polling at three of the stations serving voters at Beterverwagting and Triumph. The delay, which lasted at least half an hour, upset plans of those hoping to be early voters, including some who complained that their plans to cast their ballots then go to their jobs had been thwarted.
Many in the areas had been awakened early by the music coming from neighbouring villages. As early as 4 am, cars and minibuses were honking their horns on Republic Drive, Beterverwagting’s main road. Once the darkness lifted, people could be seen making their way to the polling places.
Despite the delay, Gecom’s operations at its Beterverwagting polling stations were spared any ruckus on account of the limited numbers that had turned up to cast their ballots early and also since many of them appeared to be enthusiastic first-time voters who opted to demonstrate patience.
Balloting at the Beterverwagting Secondary School, once it began, was slow. An hour after the polls had finally opened, no more than about 15 voters had cast their ballots. Some of them would have waited for more than an hour and a half.
Again, fortunately, the number of people comprising the earliest wave of voters was small. By 11 am, the queues outside all three of the BV/Triumph polling stations had dwindled to amounts close to single digits. Residents who have cast their ballots at those same polling stations for at least three elections told Stabroek News that polling in the community tends to see an ebb and flow.
Villagers in Beterverwagting were partying on the street near the polling station after voting. Men were seen sitting on horse carts outside of the APNU+AFC camp in the village drinking and waiting for the polls to close.
It was the same at Melanie, where villagers came out in the hundreds to vote and afterward they stood and sat to wait for the results. An elderly woman with a walker was seen being escorted by two men into the Melanie Nursery School to vote. She was stated that she was glad to have the opportunity to vote and hoped that everything ran smoothly.
‘No stress at all’
Along the East Bank Demerara, polling stations also opened to find large crowds of voters waiting and by 11 am many had already cast their ballots.
The crowds of persons who were there at the opening of polls had significantly dwindled and persons trickled in for the rest of the day.
At the Friendship Secondary School, which had six polling stations, persons reported that the process was smooth, lasting between 5 and 10 minutes on average for some voters.
At Craig Primary School, small groups of persons went to cast their votes by late morning. Several young men who had already voted were relaxing with a few drinks in the street. Lynette Geraldine Chase, 69, who is visually-impaired, was accompanied by her daughter, Alexis, who travelled from Queenstown to Craig to assist her mother to vote.
At polling stations in Grove, most persons appeared to have already voted by noon. “No stress. No stress at all,” one voter said as a small group of persons relaxed in front of the Grove Primary School.
Voting at the Covent Garden Secondary School was also said to be smooth, although some persons at strategic locations tried to dissuade voters.
When Stabroek News arrived at the polling station at 9.25 am, the voting process was smooth and persons quickly went in and came out back. Some persons, wearing red, told voters that their names were not on the list and they should check the Covent Garden Primary School. As a result, some prospective voters voiced their frustration and were contemplating whether or not they should vote.
Diamond Secondary School, which hosted three polling stations, was constantly busy throughout the day. There seemed to be some confusion as some persons found it difficult to locate their polling station, since alpha splits saw persons from the same list voting at Diamond Nursery, Primary and Secondary schools. In one instance, it was noted that voters on the Diamond Central list were split with A-B voting at Diamond Primary, C-F at Diamond Secondary while G-I AND J-L voted at the primary school then M-O at the secondary and so on. This led to some individuals having to walk from one school building to the other to find the right station.
At 6 pm all polling stations visited by this newspaper were closed and the count was about to begin. Information clerks at the stations told this newspaper that there were no instances of persons showing up after 5 pm.
Linden
By lunch time, there were only a trickle of voters at many polling stations in Linden. Despite persistent pre-dawn showers and a heavy overcast in the morning, the lame, the sick, the aged and the young converged early at polling stations in across the town to cast their ballots.
For the most part, voting went smoothly although there were some complaints about slow lines. At the Canvas City Nursery School, one prospective voter complained about being in the line from around 6.30 am to 9.30 am, by which point she was still far from reaching the voting point. Another person in the queue wondered aloud whether the delay was deliberate.
There were also few confrontations. PPP/C candidate Juan Edghill was the butt of ribald jibes after he entered two polling stations at the Wisburg Secondary School, shortly after 10 am.
About fifteen minutes later, he entered the compound of the Wismar Hill Primary School and told Stabroek News that the female security guard had told him that he could not enter the polling station at that school. He said he wanted to know who gave her the instruction. Nevertheless, he entered the polling station and spent a little under five minutes before having a brief heated exchange with the security guard as he left the school compound.
A number of persons complained of not being able to vote because they did not have the most recent national identification card. But this was dismissed by an APNU+AFC candidate for Region Ten as an idle complaint since even before elections day, he had examined cases of people complaining of not having the most recent national identification card and found that they had not gone through the voter registration process.
Several voters commended Gecom for putting in place a system in which staff with laptop computers were able to direct prospective voters to their respective polling stations when they entered the various polling places.
Many voters went to their respective polling stations with young children in tow. Some children were seen having fun on swingers in the compound of the Canvas City Nursery School.
In addition, senior citizens and other persons with walkers were readily assisted at various polling stations by public-spirited persons and those who arrived late were allowed to go to the front of the lines by persons who had been lined up for some time. Many families also turned up together to vote.
Linden is a community that is usually plagued by loud music from dawn until dusk. But an unusual silence permeated the environs yesterday as myriad liquor shops and general businesses were closed.
West Coast Demerara
There was also early voting at polling stations on the West Coast and East Bank Essequibo, which were flocked by 6 am.
The Hydronie/Good Hope polling place on the East Bank Essequibo had voters congregating long before. Two lively queues remained constant for the first three hours before soon dissipating, although an occasional build up occurred throughout the day.
Visit to polling places on the West Coast Demerara and the East Bank Essequibo revealed that the process was efficient.
There was, however, some congestion at Zeelugt Primary School, which facilitated six polling stations. Due to the build-up of voters, a few villagers volunteered to guide persons to their polling stations.
Observers were seen making checks but were reluctant to speak.
Monica Granger, who served as an observer for the Electoral Assistance Bureau at the Greenwich Park Primary School, said she was there before 6 am and did not observe any discrepancies. David Miller, a scrutineer for APNU+AFC, and Phyzena Roberts, a scrutineer for the PPP/C, also said there was no hiccups at the polling place.
Suknanan Bisram, a voter at Tuschen Primary School, said that the voting process was very organised and he complemented the work done by Gecom. Blake and St Lawrence also spoke of a quiet and calm day.
