Law provides for at minimum four certified copies of SOPs from each station

As the courts now consider whether the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has complied with the law in its handling of the results of voting in Region Four from last week’s general elections, the law suggests that if needed there should be at least four copies of each Statement of Poll (SOP) from every polling station in the region in possession of at least four persons, including the Chief Election Officer (CEO).

Amidst the controversy over the results, contesting parties and local and international observers have said that the transparent tabulation of voting in the region using the SOPs was interrupted and that the process needs to be completed in keeping with the law.

However, at least one senior member of the opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Gail Teixeira has claimed that GECOM is “working to create fake statements of polls.” Teixeira’s claim, which was made in a video statement on her party’s Facebook page on the same day that other members of the party were emphasising the need in the High Court for GECOM to use the SOPs in its process to declare the results.