Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire will on Sunday afternoon rule on whether the High Court has the jurisdiction to hear an application seeking to have the tabulation of votes in Region Four at Monday’s general elections done according to the law prior to the declaration of a final result.
The judge made the announcement Saturday afternoon after hearing arguments by attorneys for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), the Chief Election Officer and the Region Four Returning Officer, and applicant Reaaz Hollader, who secured an injunction prohibiting them from making a declaration of the total count unless there is full compliance with the law.
If the judge finds that the court does not have the jurisdiction to hear the application, the injunction will be discharged.
Holladar has asked the court to restrain GECOM, either by itself, its servants and/or agents “from declaring the total number of valid votes of electors for each list of candidates” recorded in the March 2 general and regional elections “until and unless” Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo and Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield comply with and ensure “the compliance of the process set out by the provision, letter and spirit” of Section 84 of the Representation of the People Act.
The section, which specifies the process for the counting of votes, prescribes, among things, that as soon as practicable after the receipt of all the ballot boxes and the envelopes and packets delivered to him in pursuance of Section 83 (10), the Returning Officer shall, in the presence of those legally entitled to be in attendance, ascertain the total votes cast in favour of each list in the district by adding up the votes recorded in favour of the list in accordance with the statements of poll (SOPs) and thereupon publicly declare the votes for each list of candidate.
Section 84 (1) (a) of the Act adds that where an election officer for a polling district discovers a material error on the SOP from a polling station for that polling district, he shall inform the presiding officer for that polling station forthwith, and the presiding officer, if the SOP has not yet been sent to the Returning Officer shall, in the presence of the persons who signed the original SOP, prepare a corrected one signed by himself and the original signatories present, and the corrected SOP shall be sent to the returning officer.
84 (1) (b) goes on to state that where a mistake is discovered when the SOP is in the possession of the Returning Officer, the presiding officer shall be informed of the mistake and the Returning Officer shall summon the presiding officer and the persons who signed the original SOP for the purpose of effecting the necessary correction of the SOP by the presiding officer in the presence of the other persons mentioned in the paragraph as stated.
Section 84 (3) further states that where any counting agent for the district requests a final count, he shall indicate whether he requests a general count or a limited count, and in the latter case shall specify the polling places in respect of which the final count is to be conducted and the Returning Officer shall conduct the count as requested.
On Thursday, Mingo had started the process of announcing the results for Region Four—the last of the results from polling in the ten electoral districts—but his attempts were drowned out by loud shouting by members of the opposition PPP/C and other political parties which contested the elections.
The injunction was served on the Commission subsequent to this.
Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield, Mingo and the GECOM are listed as respondents in the action and they were represented today by Senior Counsel Neil Boston.
Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes appeared for Holladar.
