Order gives Claudette Singh ultimate power to accept results

GECOM begins national recount

…experts cite open recourse to using Mingo’s declaration in event of dispute

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) will today commence what is planned to be a minimum 25-day recount of the March 2, 2020 ballots cast, but acceptance of those results is left up to the Chair of the electoral body, Retired Justice Claudette Singh.
As such, a final declaration of the results of the March 2, General and Regional Elections is ultimately dependent on Singh’s decision, in the event of a split vote over the outcome of the exercise expected to take place at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC).
This is made possible since Clause 14 of the recount order stipulates that “the Commission shall, after deliberating on the report at paragraph 11, determine whether it should request the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), to use the data compiled in accordance with paragraph 11, as the basis for the submission of a report under Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act Cap 1:03.”
The Clause (11) referred to by Clause 14 of the order, speaks to the preparation of the report to be handed to the CEO and stakeholders such as contesting political parties and observers and Commissioners and Chairperson, and to be used in order to tabulate the allocation of seats.
The tabulations are to utilise Statements of Recount (SoRs) and not Statements of Poll (SoPs).
It was noted that Clause 14 also speaks to the acceptance by the Commission of that report, to be used as the basis for, “the submission of a report under Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act Cap 1:03.”
That aspect of the law (Section 96) referred to, speaks to the division of seats—based on the allocations of votes—that will determine the share-makeup of the 65-member legislature and serves as the precursor for the final declaration with a President being declared.
That is to say, the report compiled from the recount is to be used as the report intended in that Section of the law to decide how many seats are allocated to which party and ultimately who becomes President, instead of the declarations that have already been made and that stand on the Commission’s records.
Legal experts have since pointed out that the order ultimately also means that Claudette Singh still decides whether to have that report from the recount used by CEO Keith Lowenfield—to satisfy the requirements of the law for seat allocations and determining a President.
This is in the event of a dispute of the results of the recount, or reversion to declarations that stand in the records of GECOM.
These declarations, according to the experts, have not been nullified and include those controversially declared for Region Four by Returning Officer (RO), Clairmont Mingo.
Additionally, the order which has since been published in the Official Gazette at Clause 15 expressly states, “for the avoidance of any doubt, the Chief Elections Officer and every person appointed or authorised to perform any act or functions by virtue of this order, are and shall remain subject to the general supervisory power of the Commission.”
Government-nominated Commissioner Vincent Alexander has in recent days made a point of the legality of the declarations that have been made by the various Returning Officers.
The A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) Commissioner, Alexander, told media operatives that it is only when new declarations have been made that the existing ones, already on record, would be nullified.
He had said that that if the recount process yields new declarations for the March 2 General and Regional Elections, then those would supersede the ones already in existence—a decision, which, according to the order, is left ultimately up the Chair.
He qualified his position at the time saying, “I am not saying that they are going to be used, but I am not in the business of looking at something that is legal and crossing it out just like that.”
He said it is there to be taken into consideration, and that decision is still to be made by the Commission.
The Commission on Tuesday began to remove the containers with the ballots cast on March 2, for ACCC for the first set of openings and subsequent recounting of the votes beginning today.
According to the order, dated May 4, “the recount shall commence with the allocation of ten (10) workstations as follows: District 1 – two workstations; District 2 – two workstations; District 3 – three workstations and District 4 – three workstations. The recount for Districts 5 through 10 shall be conducted based on the completion of, and the workstations assigned to, Districts 1, 2 and 3.”
Each workstation will be equipped with facilities to capture and broadcast a picture of the ballot box, depicting the state in which it is delivered to the workstation, and an audio feed of the recount process.
The order further states, “There shall be installed an audio-visual facility in the Tabulation Centre which shall broadcast live the entire tabulation process.”
On the arrival of the ballot box at the workstation, it is envisaged that the containers “be first examined to ascertain that the seals are intact” and that “the contents shall then be emptied, and the election materials examined.”
It stated that the result of the General and Regional Recount of each ballot box “shall be recorded as provided for on a Statement of Recount upon the completion of the recount of each box.”
SoRs are also to be signed by a representative of each contesting party present, in the presence of the specially invited scrutinising team fielded by the Caribbean Community and representatives of political parties that contested the elections, international and local observers accredited by the GECOM.
Meanwhile, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) has since announced that “as the premier law enforcement organisation in the State of Guyana and in keeping with its mandate of maintaining safety and security, [the GPF] will be in charge of all security arrangements during the recount of the ballots.”