GECOM’s failure to address attempts at electoral fraud led to Mingo fiasco – Gunraj

It was the failure of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to deal with issues of electoral fraud in a uniformed way that has caused the system to be circumstanced in such a way that enables persons “to try these things over and over again.”

This was the damning revelation made by Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) GECOM Commissioner Sase Gunraj when, on Thursday, he was asked to respond to the claims of fictious results being presented by a GECOM officer in order to alter the results of the March 2 poll.

The scathing criticism of the GECOM Returning Officer was given a day earlier by Head of the

Organisation of American States’ Electoral Observer Mission, Bruce Golding.

According to Gunraj, over the years, GECOM “abjectly failed to deal with those issues in a condign manner.” He was at the time pointing to the recent allegations of previous attempts in earlier elections juxtaposed with the Commission’s response.
Speaking specifically to the issue of fake statements of poll that had made their way into the tabulation centre during the 2015 elections, the GECOM Commissioner recalled that, ever since then, he would have demanded to see the SOPs in the possession of Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield.
He told media operatives that GECOM, while being a democratic organization, has failed under successive chairpersons to address the issues.

Gunraj was at the time referring to former Chairpersons Dr Steven Surujbally and retired Justice James Patterson.
According to Gunraj, it was Surujbally who voted against the release of the SOPs at that time, and Justice Patterson had dealt with the matter relative to proxy votes raised during a local government election.
Gunraj told reporters that there had been an investigation, and that Justice (rtd) Patterson had ruled that it was a non-issue.
Gunraj noted, too, that the issues of the fake SOPs are in fact central to an election petition that had been filed; and he said that five years later, this matter is still to be concluded.
According to Gunraj, however, “While I do not reject the idea that GECOM is without blame, and perhaps is very blameworthy in the diligent prosecution of that issue, perhaps the court, which is charged with responsibility of dealing with that, also should take some blame.”
He again pointed to the five-year time span that has elapsed since that petition was filed, and he said the issues have still not been ventilated.
Gunraj noted, additionally, that the onus to address issues related to electoral fraud and attempts at electoral fraud do not rest entirely with the court, but “if the majority of the Commission refused to deal with it, unfortunately, my hands are tied”.
The GECOM Commissioner told reporters the electoral institution “is supposed to be a democratic body, and in a democratic situation, majority rules; and I am bound by the decision of the majority.”
Addressing the charges made by Golding specifically, Gunraj told reporters, “Mr Golding said something that I believe many of us were thinking: that this was a most transparent attempt at a rig of an election…we all saw it.”
According to Gunraj, “Prime Minister Golding has not said anything that is different or earth- shattering outside of what we all observed; he and his team, like any one of us, would have all observed that as well.”
Speaking to the National Recount exercise underway, Gunraj told representatives of the media, “Up to now, with 350 odd boxes concluded, there has been no marked changes, except in the boxes in Region Four, where Mingo did his ‘bingo’. There has been no marked change in the contents of the SORs and the SOPS.”
According to Gunraj, with the exception of some cosmetic changes, taking into account instances such as where rejected votes were found to be accepted in the recount, the only marked changes in the SORs relate to Mingo’s figures.
He reminded that the SOPs are in fact public documents posted at 2,339 polling stations, and are required to be posted in a conspicuous place outside of the polling stations.