PPPIC objects to disclosure of discrepancies during live broadcast
– Commissioner Alexander calls for transparency to prevail
By Svetlana Marshall
WITH major discrepancies unearthed since tbt commencement of tbt national recount, the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) is now up in arms against the narration of the Observation Report during the live broadcast of the tabulation of the Statements of Recount ,(SORs) but Elections Commissioner, Vincent Alexander, said transparency is critical to the process.
Those discrepancies and irregularities, which include unsigned Oaths of Identity, excess ballots when compared to the actual number of persons marked as voted, ghost voters and missing Lists of Electors, form part of the Observation Report, attached to the Statement of Recount for each voting block.
And though the PPP/C had fought long and hard for the entire national recount to be streamed live to the public, it is now objecting to the Observation Report being made public.
At a meeting of the Elections Commission at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre on Saturday, a decision was taken to have the Observation Report read aloud during the tabulation process, even as it explores the possibility of having the information transmitted as well through sign language.
Hours after that meeting came to a close, PPP/C-nominated Elections Commissioner, Sase Gunraj, expressed major disagreement with the decision of the commission, though he forms part of it. “It is my respectful view that there are attempts to use this Observation Report as a propaganda tool,” Gunraj told reporters, while adding that the Observation Report was meant to include anomalies at the opening of ballot boxes at the level of the workstations, and not during the tabulation process. Further, he contended that the anomalies included in the Observation Recount are unfounded, as he alluded to ghost voters and overseas-Guyanese voting, though not being in Guyana at the time of the General and Regional Elections on March 2.
According to Gunraj, Observation Reports were never meant to be made public but the Elections Commission, chaired by Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh, has moved from permitting the broadcast of those reports to the narration of the reports.
“We were told today that the differently abled were not able to access this information. So what they want now, they want the Observation Report to be read, and they want the Observation Report to be dictated in sign language. Now I don’t know what they will come and ask for PPP/C Presidential Candidate, lrfaan Ali tomorrow,” Gunraj told reporters, as he objected to the reports being narrated or transmitted via sign language. According to him, this 1s a deliberate attempt to frustrate the process.
PPP/C Presidential Candidate, lrfaan Ali, also complained bitterly over the decision taken at the level of the commission with regards to the narration of the Observation Report Ali contended that reading of the report will now result in furtl1er details. “The [Elections Commission acceding to a request in having that Statement of Observation not only displayed to the public but also read to the public. That also is taking up time of the tabulation, it is reducing the tabulation time,” Ali said, while describing the commission’s decision as “strange”.
But Elections Commissioner, Vincent Alexander, in an interview with reporters outside of the Conference Centre, said that GECOM will do all in its powers to facilitate a transparent process, even if it means making public the Observation Report.
While underscoring the importance of transparency, Alexander, in offering clarity on the commission’s decision, explained that though the tabulation of the SORs were being broadcast, the Observation Reports, that accompany the SORs, were not being transmitted properly. As such, in an attempt to have greater clarity, and to meet the information needs of persons living disabilities, a decision was taken to read the Observation Reports during the tabulation process.
“You said you want the people to know, but aren’t blind people, people?” Alexander questioned.
He added: “If you don’t have sign language, how will deaf person know, and so we argued the case today and as a consequence of that argent, the process started with reading the narration of the observation.”
He said on one hand, there are calls for transparency and on the other hand, there is a reluctance to make public critical infom1ation generated out of the process. Notwithstanding those objections, Alexander said the commission is exploring the possibility of transmitting the report via sign language. “We are looking at the possibility to go beyond reading to the use of sign language, so that those who are deaf can also benefit from having translated to them what is in the observation report,” Alexander explained.
GECOM’s Public Relations Officer, Yolanda Ward, also confirmed the decision of the Elections Commission to have the Observation Reports read during the tabulation exercise. She explained that even persons sitting in the Tabulation Centre have been unable to discern the observations though projected, and as such, a decision was taken to have the Observation Reports read.
Added to that, the Elections Commission took a decision to extend the time for the Statements of Recount. “The decision of the commission is that tabulation will not commence from 16:00hrs to I 8:30hrs instead of the 17:00hrs that was initially communicated,” she detailed.
In addition to the narration of Observation Report, the Elections Commission ruled that ballot boxes shall not be extracted from a container at 17:00hrs a decision which also did not find Favor with the PPP/C and a number of small political parties. In arriving at this decision, Ward said the commission took into consideration that it may be difficult to complete a ballot box within a two hour timeframe due to the amount of ballot that may be in a box.
According to the gazetted order, the national recount of all votes cast at the March 2 General and Regional Elections shall be executed on a daily basis from 8:00hrs to 19:00brs.
Source: https://issuu.com/guyanachroniclee-paper/docs/guyana_chronicle_epaper_10_05_2020