THE last day of the national recount of the votes cast at the General and Regional Elections went no different from the days before, as more irregularities and grounds for considering the elections fraudulent, were detected.
At the end of Sunday, several instances were disclosed to this publication. At Enmore/ Hope Primary School, ballot box number 4793, the number of electors on the Official List of Electors (OLE) was 331 and the amount of electors ticked on the marked list as voted was 258.
However, the total ballots issued was 330, which leaves 72 ordinary ballots unaccounted for, since there were no unused ballots in the envelope.
Box number 4792 of the same polling place had a copy of an OLE that belonged to another box. The box had six copies of OLEs of which one belonged to another station.
In addition, ballot box 4799, from Enmore Community Centre, had 18 oaths of identity. However, none was recorded. And there was an instance in the very box, where the ID number did not match the name on the oath of identity.
It was also disclosed that there were missing statutory documents from ballot box 4833 at Clonbroek Primary School. That box had no counterfoils and no poll book.
These irregularities took the numbers on the lower East Coast up, from 29 ballot boxes to 41, of which over 10,000 votes are compromised.
Writing on behalf of APNU+AFC, Elections Agents Joseph Harmon and Minister Amna Ally had said the lack of the critical documents will effectively affect the recount process. “There is no account and/ or explanation for the missing statutorily required documents. This means that there is no way for the Commission to verify that the ballots were issued to this polling station. Consequently the validity of any count from this box is in question,” Ally told the Elections Commission. She added: “Additionally, it cannot be substantiated that electors who cast ballot in these cases met the statutory requirements. In this circumstance the aforementioned Ballot Boxes should be set aside.”
The coalition, in the letter, also noted the limited ability of its agents to examine each and every ballot, and as such, they could not detect with any certainty the issues at hand.
“We continue to call for investigations and action in these matters and since the complaint of fraud is so clear, it is suggested that the Guyana Police Force can help GECOM to bring a speedy resolution to the issue,” APNU+AFC urged.
Weighing in on the issue on Friday, Elections Commissioner Vincent Alexander told reporters that the discoveries were strange, while pointing to the fact that the boxes originated from People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) strongholds.
However, on Sunday, the Commission took the decision that regardless of missing documents, the ballots will be tabulated on the grounds that persons cannot be disenfranchised. The question of validity still lingers however, and the next phases of the recount will ultimately determine what final decisions will be made on these objections and observations recorded on the SORs.
In a matter of days the country will know the final outcome when GECOM makes the declaration of the winner of the 2020 elections.
Source: https://issuu.com/guyanachroniclee-paper/docs/guyana_chronicle_epaper_06_08_2020