PSC calls for swift, transparent tabulation of results

The Private Sector Commission (PSC) requested the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to act transparently in releasing the elections results, after another delay on Thursday when the District Four verification process was slated to reconvene.

In a statement, the Commission urged GECOM Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh; Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield and Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo to act in a swift manner while maintaining transparency.
“The Private Sector Commission urges the Chairman, Chief Elections Officer, and the Returning Officer of Region Four to conclude the process in a transparent manner as quickly as possible to enable Guyanese as individuals and the economy to return to normalcy,” the statement directed.
It went on to express satisfaction in acting Chief Justice Roxane George’s ruling on Wednesday. She indicated while handing down her judgement that GECOM breached the Representation of the People Act when Region Four Returning Officer (RO) Mingo purported to make a declaration of unverified results on March 5, three days after the recently-concluded General and Regional Elections.
The Chief Justice ruled that given the blatant breaches of the laws governing the elections and their processes, the results declared by Mingo were unlawful and as such have since been vacated and were to be deemed null, void and without effect.
While the process was slated to recommence or restart on Thursday morning, another fracas ensued when the RO reportedly opted to use a spreadsheet, instead of the Statements of Poll (SoPs).
The PSC, who is listed as one of the local elections observers, indicated, “Representatives of the parties and local and international observers were in attendance at the Region Four Office when Clairmont Mingo sought to resume the process of ascertaining the total votes cast in District Four. Mingo immediately sought to present a document which he claimed had been compiled from the Statements of Poll. It was apparent that the spreadsheet was prepared in the absence of observers and party agents and in defiance of the ruling by the Chief Justice.
The Commission added, “Representatives from contesting parties, in the presence of properly accredited domestic and international observers, sought to remind Mingo, albeit without success, of his statutory duty as confirmed in the court’s ruling to ascertain the votes cast in favour of each list in the District by adding up the votes recorded in favour of the parties directly from the Statements of Poll.”
According to the Chief Justice, the evidence submitted “confirms the confusion that ensued with regards to tabulation and declaration of the votes for Region Four”. She did not take cognisance that the “confusion” was the result of various stratagems to delay the count and then finally to seek to announce unverified figures.
She said too that when compared with the process used for other regions as was highlighted in evidence given, there appeared to be no standard methodology employed across the various regions when it came to the process to be used.
It was observed that while there appeared to be a contention over the accuracy of the figures being used to tabulate the Region Four votes using a spreadsheet, the reports indicated that spreadsheets had been used in other regions also.