-10-hour work day approved, 14-day quarantine for CARICOM observers reversed
Following the approval of a 10-hour work day and the reversal of a decision to quarantine CARICOM observers for 14 days, the Guyana Elections Com-mission (GECOM) is one step closer to executing a national recount of votes cast in the March 2 General and Regional Elections.
“Not long from now,” GECOM Chair, retired Justice Claudette Singh, told reporters yesterday when asked for a start date.
Government-nominated GECOM Commissioner Vincent Alexander added that the Commission expected to receive a “draft order” for the recount last evening though the “start date” itself will be influenced by the availability of the high-level observer team from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
Speaking with reporters after a visit to the Arthur Chung Convention Centre (ACCC), Singh reaffirmed her commitment to beginning and concluding the overdue process, noting that just like the rest of the country, she wants the 2020 Elections to end.
“I am doing everything possible. I am the person who first spoke about a recount. I am the person who made that commitment and I am going to see it through and shortly too,” she stressed.
Singh along with the six other members of the Commission, a team from the secretariat and a team from the Ministry of Public Health visited the ACCC to map out the possible locations and other logistics for the setting up of 10 counting stations in compliance with measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
“[The public health team] are here to tell us how safe it is to have a certain number of people in any one area and how we can space them to allow for social distancing,” she explained, noting that a guarantee from the Public Health Ministry was a requirement for the presence of the CARICOM team.
This team which has been invited to give validity to the recount process is expected to be physically present once the Commission can provide assurances for their safety both medical and physical. They are also expected to undergo COVID-19 testing before leaving their home countries.
“We need to guarantee the safety of the CARICOM team. We have to communicate what we have done to assure their safety to the Secretary General. These people are afraid of contracting the virus so we are leaving no stone unturned,” the Chair stressed.
As part of these efforts, Singh made contact with the COVID-19 task force for advice on the time at which the daily recount exercise should end; the number of persons who should be safely accommodated at the recount venue at the same time; and required protocols for quarantining persons coming from abroad, and who were invited to be part of the recount process.
In response de facto Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo in his capacity as Chair of the Task Force on Saturday directed that the exercise must not extend into the COVID-19 curfew period from 6 pm to 6 am and that any persons coming into the country for the process would have to be quarantined for two weeks at a government institution.
According to Singh in order to comply with this directive the recount would have had to end by 5pm. However following an intervention from President David Granger the Commission’s request for a 10- hour work day was granted so the recount will take place from 8 am to 6 pm every day.
Additionally the team from CARICOM will no longer be quarantined since they are expected to undergo testing in their home countries.
A release from the task force explained that President Granger had provided “guidance and advice” on the screening guidelines.
This guidance included a proposal from the CARICOM Secretary-General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque for the team to be tested before arriving in Guyana.
In light of this proposal the task force has decided that the CARICOM officials identified to participate in the recount of ballots will be permitted to undergo World Health Organization-approved Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) tests for COVID-19 in their respective home countries prior to arrival in Guyana, and they will be permitted entry on the basis that such test results are negative.
Additionally if any official is unable to have such medical test conducted prior to arrival in Guyana, the Ministry of Public Health will have such test done upon arrival in Guyana on the condition that the official self- quarantines for a maximum of 48 hours while the test results are being ascertained.
It remains unclear just how many days the process is likely to take and whether or not it will be streamed live to the public.
Both Alexander and Opposition-nominated Commissioner Sase Gunraj indicated that no attempt had been made to calculate a timeframe using the parameters of 10 stations working for 10 hours. Instead the discussions thus far have been focused on the maximum number of persons who can be present at a station, 14, and special arrangements such as wash stations and socially-distanced washrooms.
Of the 14 persons who will be present at each station four are expected to be GECOM officials.
According to Alexander these “officials” will not carry titles such as Returning Officer and Presiding Officer since there is no provision in the recount for these offices.
“This is a special recount so those offices are not being activated…The secretariat will deploy competent staff,” he stressed, explaining that none will carry the title of RO but the individuals who served as returning officers may be called on to function.
There have been repeated calls for the RO of Region 4 Clairmont Mingo to be excluded from the recount process. Mingo has been accused of fraudulently declaring results for that Region based on questionable numbers on a spreadsheet.
Going forward the Commission will meet either today or tomorrow provided that they have received feedback from the public health team and CARICOM.
While Alexander indicated that the public health team is expected to communicate in writing its findings and recommendations, Gunraj has expressed frustration with these “delays”.
He told reporters that COVID-19 is being over-utilized as a means of fettering the process.
“It has been seven weeks since we voted…this process should be given the same importance as COVID-19,” he stressed while maintaining that GECOM could work longer hours to make up for the small number of workstations.
Speaking on the proposal to televise and/or stream the tabulation, Gunraj stressed that the process belongs to the electorate which has lost trust in GECOM.
“The credibility of these elections is in the doldrums…streaming will minimize suspicions and distrust,” he maintained.
