APNU/AFC-appointed COVID-19 Task Force delays GECOM recount

…still to approve additional workstations

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is yet to hear from the National COVID-19 Task Force regarding the Commission’s request to house at least half a dozen more counting stations at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) in order accelerate the national elections recount exercise of the March 2 ballots that is currently underway.

As such, People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Commissioner Sase Gunraj believes the progress of the recount exercise is being stymied by the agency, more specifically “a group of persons at the Task Force that is extraneous to us.”

Gunraj gave the disclosure on Friday—Day 10—of the recount exercise. He told media

operatives that as a result of the failure of the COVID-19 Task Force to communicate its report following an assessment of the venue the previous day, the work of the Commission has since inherently led to the postponement of other critical meetings.
He told reporters encamped in the makeshift media centre—erected outside of the Conference Centre—that the Commission did not meet on Friday as a result, “since there was no need to meet and discuss a report.”
According to the GECOM Commissioner, the failure on the part of the National COVID-19 Task Force “poses an issue for us because we need to have that report in hand because we have committed to acting pursuant to that.”
Gunraj signalled to reporters that at present, the Commission is ready to begin populating the proposed locations in order to get the recounting process accelerated.
Lamenting the delayed report from the Task Force, Gunraj said, “I am convinced our progress in this recount exercise is stymied by an agency, or a group of persons in a Task Force that is extraneous to us.”
The GECOM Commissioner used the occasion to reiterate that the Constitution clearly says that the actions of the Commission should not be influenced or fettered by external persons.”
He was adamant that the issue, “go hand in glove—the failure of the Task Force to give us information in relation to this particular exercise and expanding the work stations.”
According to Gunraj, the same position obtains with the Task Force in relation to international observers to the exercise and pointed to the denial of the US democracy watchdog group, The Carter Center.
He said, to date, the Task Force has also failed to provide the necessary clearances to have the members of that delegation return to Guyana.
The GECOM Commissioner observed that in recent days, the general pace of the recount exercise started to pick up “because of some of the changes that we are implementing daily to speed up and to make the process more efficient.”
He cited as examples, the reduction of the checklist on opening the ballot boxes and the increase in tabulation hours each day, as among the variables that have allowed for the process to increase its pace.
To this end, the Commissioner reiterated that based on analysis of the prior week’s activity, there had been consensus on the need for more counting stations to be added.
“We have recognised as a consequence of our analysis after seven days is that one of the elements needed to expedite this process is the increase in the number of work stations.”
As such, according to Gunraj, the delayed report from the COVID-19 Task Force will, in fact, have a debilitating effect.
Asked to respond to how long the Commission should, in fact, wait on the Task Force and not act independently, Gunraj told reporters the 24-hour timeframe given to the COVID-19 officials to respond to the request “was more than enough…24 hours might have been more than adequate.”
According to the PPP GECOM Commissioner, the recount exercise being run off by the electoral body has been keeping with the COVID-19 guidelines set globally and by the Task Force.
As such, he posited, “setting up new stations with the knowledge that we have already established and taking into consideration the safeguards that are already in place I don’t see it as rocket science…we should have set up and had those station up and running in short order.”
Gunraj did note, however, that even if the Commission were to be allowed to set up the half a dozen more work stations, making the 25-day deadline wouldn’t be guaranteed.
Additionally, PPP Executive Member, Anil Nandlall, in advocating for more stations to be included in a short manner, also called for a review of the working hours and for it to be enforced vigilantly.