…GECOM releases decisions on basket of issues
AT the end day 11 of the national recount, the Guyana Elections Commission announced that it has completed another 49 ballot boxes, taking the total number to 528.
Of the 528 completed boxes, the tabulation for the General Elections was completed for 500, and for Regional, 501, at the end of Saturday.
With the Barima Waini Region (Region One) being completed on Friday, Region Five has commenced, and a total of 11 boxes have been completed thus far. In Regions Two, Three and Four, the completed numbers on Saturday were 11, 14 and 13, respectively.
In addition to the stats on the count, GECOM also released a table outlining all the issues, a total of 28, that were raised thus far in the recount process, along with the decision the commission has decided upon, for each issue.
Among these issues are: the reading of the observation report in the tabulation centre for the benefit of persons with disabilities. It was decided that the observation report will be read and sign language will be used to accommodate the above-mentioned group.
In the instances where party agents supply death certificates to workstations, those death certificates will be attached to the observation report. For valid, rejected and spoilt votes, GECOM has said that, once the intent of the voter is clear, the vote is valid, whether they use a pen, fingerprint, or any of the other methods raised as issues. But in a case where a voter identifies him/herself on the ballot, the vote will be rejected.
Comments written on the Statements of Recounts are prohibited. The Commission said that no comments must be written on the SORs, only on the observation report. In addition to that, observers will not receive copies of the SORs, only the CARICOM team will be given the SORs.
The Commission is looking at the possibility of increasing the number of workstations in an attempt to accelerate the pace at which the ballots are being processed. Currently there are 10 workstations and the commission has identified six locations within the conference centre where workstations could be established.
However, it’s awaiting clearance from the National COVID-19 Task Force in light of the emergency measures that have been put in place. With a visit conducted by representatives of the task force on Thursday, a report was expected on Friday, but that was not received. To date, that is the only pending decision of the Commission.
Source: https://issuu.com/guyanachroniclee-paper/docs/guyana_chronicle_epaper_17_05_2020