…PPP/C calls for increased working hours, workstations
The pace at which the recount of ballots cast in the March 2 General and Regional Elections seems to be fluctuating, with some 85 ballot boxes going through the final count on day 18 of the 25-day exercise.
Former Attorney General and PPP Executive, Anil Nandlall
This means that a sum of 1049 boxes have been counted thus far with 1290 remaining.
According to the figures from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), 16 boxes were counted for Electoral District Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), 23 for District Four (Demerara-Mahaica), 15 for District Five (Mahaica-Berbice), 20 for District Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), and 11 for District Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).
So far, Districts One (Barima-Waini) and Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) have been fully counted.
Meanwhile, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) continues to advocate for the process to be sped up and the number of workstations to be increased.
Speaking to the media following the conclusion of the day’s activities, PPP/C Executive Anil Nandlall said they remain disappointed that although the Commission gave a commitment to increasing the number of workstations, that has not been done. He noted that the 25-day deadline would never be met if the pace remains the same.
“We are disappointed that we have seen no movement towards the establishment of additional stations as were promised by GECOM. Of course, the establishment of those stations are fundamental to the speed of the process increasing and I believe that GECOM itself has recognised that we need to increase the speed if we are to come close to the deadline fixed by GECOM, that is, the 25-day deadline,” he told reporters.
“As you know, we were promised to have additional stations established. I thought it would’ve been done today because I thought that the matter was considered to be one of great urgency. But unfortunate, today has come [to] an end and we have seen no movement in that direction,” Nandlall added.
The former Attorney General said that they are hoping that the recounting exercise is completed within the stipulated time but are open to a possible extension if it is warranted. He added that they continue to press GECOM for the establishment of the additional workstations so as to maximise the working time and output.
“Today [Saturday], again the containers were closed at 05:30 [pm] and boxes were not released for counting at 05:30 [17:30h]. That we believe can easily be adjusted and extended to 6 o’clock as we had proposed and that will bring greater speed to the system. If the 25-day deadline is not met, of course, we are not opposed to an extension. We hope that it will not be a long extension because, like I said, we would like this process to be completed with every convenience dispatch and speed,” he related.
PPP/C Presidential Candidate, Dr Irfaan Ali said previously that the party has indicated to GECOM that it will only support an extension of seven days.
GECOM has so far only added two additional workstations but has since started pursuing another two stations.
On Wednesday, GECOM Public Relations Officer (PRO), Yolanda Ward confirmed the request of the National COVID-19 Task Force by the Commission and said the establishment of more working stations was among the discussions being mulled by the Commission in order to ensure that the exercise is accelerated.
Asked to clarify whether the request was for permission or guidance, taking into account the fact that the Chairperson had initially decided to go ahead and set up two additional workstations before receiving the imprimatur of the Task Force, she said it was twofold.
According to Ward, “We seek permission as well as for an assessment to be done to determine the risk involved in the establishment of such.”
She conceded that the Commission had identified at least two additional proposed locations to the Task Force last week, but those have been turned down.
