This newspaper wishes to reiterate the declaration of the Chair of Caricom and Barbados Prime Minister, Mia Mottley, QC, on the present illegality precipitated in the Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) voters’ count: “We are very clear, every vote must be made to count; and transparently so.” She explained very succinctly how that two-part standard was to be achieved: “by ensuring the tabulation of the results in all Regions using the Statements of Polls (SoPs) in a transparent manner in the presence of the representatives of the political parties and the electoral observers.” The use of the SoPs ensures that every vote is counted, and tabulating them in the presence of the stipulated observers ensures transparency.
To abandon this standard would vitiate the fundamental principle of “one man one vote”, which undergirds our democratic elections. In practice, it would also permit any party in any region to win an election by influencing the Returning Officer (RO) to bypass the SoPs and concoct figures on “spreadsheets” to subvert the electoral system to elect the people’s representatives, who represent their will.
This subversion will destroy our democracy and must be nipped at the earliest stage so that it does not create a fait accompli that will take years to reverse, if at all.
This will not stand.
