Recount delayed as GECOM Commissioners disagree on logistics

…to meet again today

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is now split in three different directions when it comes to the number of workstations that will be used during the recount of all votes for the March 2 General and Regional Elections. This time, two Commissioners and the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) have all presented different proposals.

The Commission held its second meeting of the week on Wednesday when CEO Keith Lowenfield was expected to present a revised version of his previous unacceptable 156-day proposal.
While Lowenfield’s new proposal omitted mention of the number of days the recount would take, it proposed the use of five workstations. It is a minuscule improvement on the previous proposal of three workstations that Lowenfield had submitted.

People’s Progressive Party (PPP)-nominated Commissioner Sase Gunraj, on the other hand, has proposed that 20 workstations be used to conduct the recount. Gunraj, who on Wednesday went on a site visit to the intended recount venue – the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), emphasised that his proposal was a workable one and would, moreover, drastically reduce the time needed for the recount.

“The renewed proposal from the Secretariat had five workstations. I don’t know what informed that decision, but clearly five stations, the time it will take to conclude this process using five stations will be an inordinate time. And we have seen as well, the comment from the OAS observer team that said they are (in disagreement) with the proposal that will take six months,” he said.
“Five stations, moving up from three stations, does not in any significant way reduce the time (the recount) can be done. So, I want to reject those five stations. I believe the 20 (work stations) I proposed are very, very easily achievable,” Gunraj also explained.

Gunraj also addressed questions about the manner in which the recount would be conducted. While there have been suggestions that it was not a simple recount, Gunraj cited Sections 84 (6), 87 and 89 of the Representation of the People’s Act, which the lawyer noted details the way in which a recount is done. According to him, Commissioners on the other side have proffered their own interpretation of what the recount will be.
For instance, Section 84 (6) states “Where a general final count is conducted, the returning officer shall review all used ballot papers, including rejected ballot papers, received from all polling places and where he agrees with the decision of a presiding officer as regards any questioned or rejected ballot paper, he shall write the word confirmed at the back of the ballot paper and where he disagrees with the decision of any presiding officer as regards any such ballot paper, he shall write the word varied at the back of the ballot paper.”

Eight stations
Gunraj’s colleague on the other side of the aisle, Government-nominated Commissioner Vincent Alexander had a different view of how many workstations could be used. According to him, he made a proposal for eight workstations to be used at the ACCC, in keeping with his observations during the site visit.
“I have made a recommendation for eight workstations. I recommended two workstations in the eastern wing auditorium, with the Secretariat occupying the third part of the auditorium. I recommended two workstations in the western wing. I recommended a workstation in the dining hall. I recommended a workstation in the western half of the courtyard,” he said.
“I recommended that dining should be done in the eastern half of the courtyard. And I recommended that further consideration can be given to the possibility of two workstations, one on the eastern patio and one on the western. Those who are proposing 20 workstations are saying, ‘let’s (also) work in tents in the yard’. I have a difficulty with that.”
Alexander further explained that they have agreed to four GECOM persons, as well as the relevant party representatives, a Caribbean Community (Caricom) representative and one observer, at each workstation. He explained that each party was entitled to one representative.
“In the case of observers, it is not the individual teams that will field observers. The teams have to come together and, among themselves, identify one person (per workstation). Essentially, the decisions to be made have to do with duration. And duration is tied to the number of workstations,” he said, also informing that GECOM will meet today at 09:00h.
It has already been over a month of controversy and a credible winner for the 2020 General and Regional Elections is yet to be declared. After two discredited declarations from Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, which lacked transparency, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo and caretaker President David Granger had agreed to have Caricom oversee the recount.
That agreement was derailed when A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) candidate Ulita Moore moved to the courts and secured an injunction against the exercise. That injunction was discharged by the Full Court and on Sunday, the Full Court’s decision was upheld by the Appeals Court.
However, Appeal Court Judges Rishi Persaud, Dawn Gregory and Brassington Reynolds ruled that Caricom’s supervision of GECOM’s recount would be unlawful. GECOM has nevertheless re-invited Caricom.