HOW THE PPP AND GECOM RIGGED THE 2011 ELECTIONS by Malcolm Harripaul – Commentary
The election that was held on 28th Nov 2011 was rigged by the PPP and GECOM. When one rigs an election from a minority base he has to take large blocks of votes away from the majority and so his rigging is easily detected. On the other hand, when one rig from a large base he does not have to take away votes from the minority. He only has to keep his base numbers high and this not easily detectable. That is why observers have a difficulty catching the PPP at rigging.
During the elections campaign, the traditional PPP supporter stayed away from PPP meetings so much so that the PPP had to “rig” crowds at its rallies. When PPP supporters stayed away from the polls the PPP had to rig the elections.
The report that follows is my own finding which is based on my personal experience on elections day.
Voter Turnout
The voter turnout in APNU strongholds was very high as was evident from the large crowds seen at the polling places throughout the morning. That was in stark contrast to PPP strongholds where only small groups of voters were seen. Yet according to the Statements of Poll, the turnout in PPP areas was high. How is such a contradiction possible? The answer lies in the rigging process such as multiple voting and phantom voting.
Multiple Voting
Multiple voting was facilitated through several mechanisms and those were as follow:
As many as 8 polling stations were located in a building. The voter's list for that polling place was split alphabetically which meant each station was supposed to have just a section of the list so that a voter’s name can only appear once at the entire polling place. However, each station had the entire list which meant that a voter’s name appeared at each station. The situation was created whereby a voter could vote at each station, as many as 4 to 8 times depending on the size of the building.
The indelible ink that was used to stain voters’ index finger was found in many cases to take as long as 15 to 20 minutes to be effective. In other cases, the stain was easily removed. Again the situation was created for an elector to vote multiple times.
I dealt with one case on elections day where at Timehri Primary School on the East Bank Demerara a group of 26 PPP supporters was detected voting at least twice. Their names appeared on the lists of all the polling stations located in the building and the ink was slow to stain the finger. So multiple voting did take place and it was widespread.
I saw a group of PPP supporters being briefed outside West Demerara Secondary School. I got reports of groups of young PPP supporters being moved around on the East Bank Essequibo.
Buying Voters ID Card
At West Demerara Secondary School I saw PPP activists with a briefcase full of Voter ID Cards. They were distributing the cards to a group of PPP supporters. Voters also received a slip of paper which they had to present later for payment. The same set of PPP activists also went to Vreed En Hoop Primary School where they distributed ID cards to their supporters. Many voters later complained of receiving some counterfeit notes with their payment. Some shopkeepers also said they received counterfeit $1000.00 notes.
GECOM Created Obstacles to Polling Agents.
Since 1992 it was always the practice of GECOM to issue Letters of Employment to Polling Agents to enable them to vote at the station they were working at rather than where they were registered. Two days before elections GECOM aborted that practice by refusing to issue Letters of Employment. It meant that polling Agents would be late, would leave the polling station, or don’t show up at all if they had to work outside of their registered districts. That created a window of opportunity for PPP allied polling officials to mark up ballots for the PPP. Opposition polling agent was absent from most stations in the Amerindian communities.
Polling Places Located At Homes Of PPP Supporters.
Although our population has been declining, and as a consequence, our national list of electors has stagnated or declined, GECOM increased the number of polling places, especially on the East Coast of Demerara, Region 4. There, newly created polling places, most a few days before elections, were located at the homes of known PPP supporters. This was done to facilitate phantom voting to counter APNU strongholds in Region 4.
PPP Controlled GECOM.
In PPP strongholds the GECOM polling staff comprised PPP members and supporters. The Rural Constables who provided security at polling places were also under the control of the PPP. The PPP utilized the structure and resources of the Neighborhood Democratic Councils (NDC). The NDC chairmen were the persons who were in command of the rigging operation. In every report, I got of irregularities and breaches of the law the main culprits were the NDC chairmen.
At Silk Cotton Dam, Zeelugt, EBE, an NDC chairman had a gang of young PPP supporters whom he used to threaten to kill APNU officials if they did not leave the polling places. At Diamond EBD it was the NDC chairman who supervised the tampering of ballot boxes and the removal of the envelopes containing Statements of Poll on Wed 30th Nov. That was the EBD area where the PPP had called for a recount.
PPP Phantom Voting.
PPP phantom voting is a phenomenon whereby an elector votes without ever setting foot in the polling station or signing a proxy form. Phantom Voting is done by PPP allied polling officials who mark ballots for the PPP in the absence of polling agents, or in many cases by simply conning the agents. Care is taken not to exceed the numbers on the polling station list as that would raise a red flag with the Local and International Observers.
Due to lack of opposition polling agents, the PPP captured the Amerindian votes through phantom voting.
Ballot Box Tampering
On Tue 29th Nov concerned citizens reported that ballot boxes were being tampered with at North Ruimveldt Multilateral School in which all the ballot boxes for District 4 South Georgetown were stored by GECOM. APNU was able to obtain 11 broken ballot box seals from someone who smuggled them past heavily armed police. That was the same district that the PPP wanted a recount after its agent “fixed” the votes.
Ballot Boxes Found On The West Demerara.
On Wed 30th Nov one ballot box was found at Vreed En Hoop, West Coast Demerara, and another was found at Versailles West Bank Demerara, Region 3. The finds were made after Police had searched the homes of 2 PPP activists in the area for ballot boxes. Homes were also searched for ID cards. It was clear that PPP personnel were involved in nefarious activities with ballot boxes and ID cards.
PPP Calls For Recount
The PPP had called for a recount of ballots on the West Demerara, South Georgetown, and East Bank Demerara. Those were the locations where ballot boxes were tampered with after polling and after being secured by GECOM. It was clear that the PPP called for a recount after it had “fixed” the ballots in its favor.
Statements Of Poll.
The Statements of Poll (SOPs) are the most important document generated during the electoral process. They are a count of the votes and are the basis on which the election results are tabulated and declared. The SOPs do not reflect multiple and phantom voting. Those have to be detected on the ground and objections must be raised immediately to stop the fraud. If multiple and phantom voting is not detected then the elections appear to be good and so the rigging cannot be detected on the SOPs, especially when, as is the case of the PPP, you have the largest bloc of traditional voters and you just have to keep your numbers high but do not exceed the list.
APNU WON THE ELECTIONS
The APNU won the elections. Our supporters came out early in large numbers to vote all over Guyana. The PPP traditional supporters turned out in small numbers. In Jagdeo’s home village of Unity, Mahaica, ECD, out of 484 electors, only 184 showed up to vote. I saw people straggling to vote in the PPP traditional strongholds, but just as the PPP “rigged” its rallies, it had to resort to multiple and phantom voting to rig the numbers in their strongholds and the Amerindian communities, and so rig the elections. The regime has stolen the elections and the government from APNU.
We want justice. We want the election that we won. We want the Presidency and the Government which we won by the ballots. But we are willing to share the Government in the interest of peace and unity, and so we demand POWER SHARING.
Malcolm Harripaul
12-02-2011
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