Bipartisan US Congress reps to GECOM: “deliver credible count before declaration”

…US State Dept Asst Secretary says Guyana deserves “credible elections”
…British politician calls out “ballot rigging”

Four United States Congress representatives from New Jersey (NJ), New York (NY) and Florida, where there are large Guyanese populations, called upon the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to deliver credible tabulation of the Region Four results before moving ahead to declare the final results of the March 2 General and Regional Elections.

On Thursday, the Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Returning Officer (RO), Clairmont Mingo, abandoned the ongoing verification process of the regional results and reportedly went ahead to declare the results. This was objected to by representatives of most of the 11 political parties that contested the elections as well as international observers – all of whom have labelled the declared results as lacking credibility and transparency and has been calling for the verification process to resume.

In a joint statement on Friday, Congress Representatives Albio Sires (D-NJ), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), and Francis Rooney (R-FL) expressed deep concern about the allegations of fraud in Guyana’s elections.
“International election observers are in agreement that the results released for Region [Four] could not be verified and were presented [Thursday] in violation of the established vote tabulation process. We call on the election commission (GECOM) to return to the established procedure and not to declare a winner until a credible vote tabulation process has been completed,” the missive detailed.

Congressmen Sires and Meeks along with Congresswoman Clarke had visited Guyana in January on a fact-finding mission ahead of the March 2 elections. The congressional team had met with political leaders and other stakeholders from civil society.
Moreover, just days before the local elections, the Bipartisan Congress representatives in a statement called for free and fair elections.
“We strongly support free, fair, and peaceful elections in Guyana that reflect the will of the Guyanese people.

We also recognise the important role of local civil society and international election observers working to safeguard the integrity of the vote. No matter who wins on Monday, we hope to continue to deepen relations between our two countries and support the Guyanese people in the months and years ahead,” the February 28 missive stated.

On the other hand, also joining in questioning the credibility of Thursday’s results is the acting Assistant Secretary for the US Department of State’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Michael Kozak.
He tweeted on Friday that, “The people of Guyana deserve a credible election and legitimate transfer of power; the democracies of the region expect that Guyana will uphold our shared values”.

To this end, the State Department official posited that “no candidate should declare victory or be sworn in while serious questions remain about [the] credibility of [the] March 2 elections and whether procedures were followed”.
Meanwhile, over in the United Kingdom (UK), British Labour Party politician, Barry Gardiner, flags the attempts to “rig” the elections by the incumbent APNU/AFC coalition.

“It appears that Guyana’s Government lost Monday’s election but have refused to complete the legal count. Instead, they’ve ‘persuaded’ the elections commission to produce a completely fictitious statement on results. UK must not ignore this ballot rigging,” the Shadow Secretary of State for International Trade asserted.