April 27 2020
The finalised order for the recount of votes at the March 2nd general elections will allow a high-level CARICOM team to submit a report at the end of the process which ”may” be considered by GECOM but up to yesterday there was no word on when it will arrive here.
Word from CARICOM is essential to deciding on when the recount will begin as the order sets out a special function for its scrutineers. CARICOM had been left slighted after a recount agreement brokered in March by its Chair, Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley was scuttled when an APNU+AFC candidate went to court and obtained an injunction against it. Mottley thereafter said that it appeared that there are forces here that do not want the votes from the March 2nd general elections recounted and she warned that a government sworn in without a credible tabulation would not have legitimacy. Analysts say that CARICOM is likely seeking assurances that there won’t be a recurrence of this fiasco.
Asked about the CARICOM team, GECOM’s Public Relations official Yolanda Ward last evening said that “there has been some indication but nothing official.”
On Friday, GECOM announced that the recount of ballots in the March 2nd general elections could take at least 25 days.
The order is currently ready but will be gazetted after a date is settled by Chairperson (Ret’d) Justice Claudette Singh, after she communicates with CARICOM as to the earliest date by which its high-level team of scrutineers can travel to the country.
The 13-point order seen by Stabroek News says “The recount shall commence on the ________ and shall proceed continuously each day, including weekends and holidays, from 08:00 hours to 18:00 hours at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, for a period of 25 days, subject to review, no later than the end of the first week, until its completion”.
It says that “The recount shall be conducted by employees of the Guyana Elections Commission, under the direct supervision of the Chief Election Officer or his delegate. The following persons are entitled to be present: the CARICOM High-Level Team, representatives of political parties that contested the said elections, International and Local Observer teams accredited by Guyana Elections Commission, advisors to the Guyana Elections Commission, members of the Commission and such other persons authorized by the Guyana Elections Commission”.
The order says that District 4 will be one of the first four to be counted. District Four is at the centre of the controversy as fictitious figures were twice presented for it. These figures were rejected by opposition parties and described as not credible by five international observer groups.
The order says that “For the avoidance of any doubt, the Chief Election Officer and every person appointed or authorized to perform any act or functions by virtue of this Order, are and shall remain subject to the general supervisory power of the Commission”.
The order has specific rules pertaining to how District 4, the largest of the 10 districts, will be handled.
The Order states that “the recount shall commence with Districts 1, 2, 3 and 4 simultaneously and upon completion of Districts 1, 2, and 3, to be continued with Districts 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 parallel to the ongoing count of District 4.”
Of note is that the result of the regional and general count of each ballot box from each polling station, including the reconciliation report and account for the elections material, “shall be recorded on a Statement of Recount upon the completion of the recount for each box”.
“The documents …shall be signed by the person conducting the recount and by each representative of the contesting parties present who wishes to sign, in the presence of the CARICOM High-Level Team, representatives of political parties that contested the said elections. The International and Local Observer teams accredited by Guyana Elections Commission, advisors to the Guyana Elections Commission, and such other persons authorized by the Guyana Elections Commission. These documents shall be lodged with the Chief Election Officer and copies distributed to the signatories thereto, and a copy sent to the Chairman, Commissioners, and CARICOM High Level Team,” the order stipulates.
Central tabulation
“The tabulation of the Statements of Recount generated after the recount of each ballot box will be done at a central tabulation centre in the presence of the CARICOM High-Level Team, representatives of political parties that contested the said elections, advisors to the Guyana Elections Commission, other International and Local Observer teams accredited by Guyana Elections Commission, and such other persons authorized by the Guyana Elections Commission as follows: a. The Statement of Recount shall be projected on a screen to be viewed by all persons present; b. The information from Statement of Recount shall be inputted into a spreadsheet which process shall be viewed simultaneously by all persons present,” it adds
Noted too is that upon completion of the recount of an entire Electoral District, the Supervisor for the table shall ascertain and verify the entries in the formatted matrix generated, as explained in the document, and calculate totals for each column therein.
“In the presence of the CARICOM High-Level Team, representatives of political parties that contested the said elections the International and Local Observer teams accredited by Guyana Elections Commission, advisors to the Guyana Elections Commission, and such other persons authorized by the Guyana Elections Commission. This ascertained and verified copy of the formatted matrix shall be thereafter signed by the Supervisors of the Districts and by each designated representative of each contesting party present who wishes to sign in the presence of the CARICOM High-Level Team, representatives of political parties that contested the said elections, advisors to the Guyana Elections Commission, International and Local Observer teams accredited by Guyana Elections Commission, and such other persons authorized by the Guyana Elections Commission,” the order reads.
“A copy of the signed matrix produced in the previous paragraph shall then be given to the representatives of political parties and copies thereof be transmitted to the Chief Election Officer and the Chairman and Commissioners and the CARICOM High Level Team and will also be publicised. The matrices for the recount of the 10 (ten) Electoral Districts shall then be tabulated by the Chief Election Officer and be submitted in a report together with the reconciliation and anomalies report,” it adds.
And according to the document, the CARICOM High-Level Team shall issue a report to the Commission which may include their observations, recommendations, and conclusions which report “may be considered by the Commission”.
“The Commission shall, (then consider) the report received from the Chief Election Officer in accordance with section 96 of the Representation of the People Act Cap 1:03, which consideration shall include replacement of the previous report submitted to the Chairman”, the order said.
That report is the one that contains the discredited District Four count.
The recital to the order also says that the recount will include reconciliation of the ballots issued with the ballots cast, destroyed, spoiled, stamped and their counterfoils/stubs; authenticity of the ballots and the number of voters listed and crossed out as having voted; the number of votes cast without ID cards; the number of proxies issued and the number utilized; statistical anomalies; occurrences recorded in the Poll Book.
Today marks eight weeks since elections day and the GECOM Chair has been flayed for not managing the process adequately and for turning a blind eye to two fictitious declaration for District Four.
