District 4, Sub-District 4 election recount: No significant changes in numbers already counted – GECOM Commissioner

…as WIN’s bid to have the entire Region 4 recounted fails
…recount now also includes 77 ballot boxes from Region 5

By Andrew Carmichael

There have been no significant changes in the ballots counted as those that appeared on the Statement of Polls during the current recounting of ballots for District 4 Sub-District 4 (Demerara-Mahaica).
This is according to Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Commissioner Sase Gunraj on Thursday evening.
The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) had agreed to a request by the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) for a recount of district four, sub-district four.
The recount of the 391 commenced at 08:00h on Thursday, and by 18:00h, 101 boxes were recounted.
Speaking with the media outside of GECOM’s headquarters in Kingston, Georgetown, Gunraj said, “Of great importance is that there is no significant change in the numbers that are already contained on statements of poll that, of course, have led to declarations. There is no significant change. There is perhaps one here that might have been queried; the questions are being asked about. There may be one there that a question is asked about, but by and large, there has been no significant change in the results.”
The commissioner added that while there are agents at each of the 25 work stations set up by GECOM for the recount, he has seen no real interest from the party leaders in the recount.
“You are seeing no real interest from senior members of their party, senior candidates, nothing like that. And it therefore begs the question whether this is indeed a delaying tactic to frustrate the electorate and to frustrate this nation as a whole… There is absolutely no way, unless something cataclysmic occurs, and I don’t see that happening, that the results can be changed in any significant way.”

77 Region 5 ballot boxes
Meanwhile, GECOM on Thursday approved the partial recount of ballots coming out of District Five (Mahaica-Berbice) at the request of APNU.
According to Gunraj, the request was granted because it satisfied all the criteria necessary for the granting of a recount.
“The two basic criteria, and there may be more, but I believe these are the rudimentary ones. It is received in time, and the request is made by the right person. In this sense, it complied with those two criteria. I am also aware that yesterday [Wednesday] the window for recounts started when the declaration was made and closed at 12 noon the following day.”
However, another request coming out of Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) did not meet that criteria and was not granted by GECOM.
“I understand that prior to the close of that window, a request for a recount in Region 8 was submitted. However, it was not signed by the person who is duly appointed by law to make that request. And as a consequence, it was rejected on that basis. I am also aware that a similar request came today for the entirety of Region Four from WIN, and it suffered the same defect and, as a consequence, was rejected,” the Commissioner revealed.
“After the count of Region Four is done, the partial count of Region Five will begin,” he added.
The recount exercise will continue today.

Results already known
Meanwhile, Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo said the results are already known to every person.
Speaking at his weekly press conference on Thursday, he pointed out that all ten Returning Officers (ROs) have individually made a declaration of their regions.
“I think by now, Guyanese are aware that you just have to allow the process to be completed. When people request a recount, they have to do it by a certain time,” Jagdeo said.
“If they do it by a certain time and the right person does it, it’s automatic. You have to give the recount.
That’s part of our electoral process. You can’t hurry this up. You can’t stop people from getting a recount once they comply with the law. And the law says by noon of the following day after the declaration, you have a right to request a recount, and you have to do it.”
Jagdeo, who is the General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), said the party will not pressure GECOM to conclude the recount, explaining that the party is not in a rush.
“We are not going to attempt to rush anything through there. They should do it diligently, the recount, because we don’t believe it will change the results one bit. And after that, the declaration would be made, and President Ali would be sworn in.”
Jagdeo added that he does not see the matter being taken to the courts, as in the case in 2020, when the courts were used to stop Clairmont Mingo, the RO for Region Four, from declaring the results.
“It is not like 2020 when we had the injunction to stop Mingo from declaring the results, because the process is being followed now. We got that injunction because Mingo was not following the law. The law said that you had to use the SOPs as the basis on which to do the tabulation. He was using a spreadsheet. In these elections, the SOPs are known to every Guyanese,” Jagdeo explained.

“There is absolutely no way, unless something cataclysmic occurs, and I don’t see that happening, that the results can be changed in any significant way” – GECOM Commissioner Sase Gunraj