– urges GECOM to complete process according to ruling
– says ruling provided the finality needed
THE APNU+AFC is pleased that the Court of Appeal has ruled that elections results cannot be based on fraudulent votes and the party has therefore called on the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to complete its work in accordance with the Court’s ruling.
In a statement on Monday, following the pronouncements of the Court of Appeal, the APNU+AFC stated: “The Court of Appeal has today, in its judgement, confirmed the position of the APNU+AFC Coalition that the determination of a final and credible count as contemplated by Order No. 60 of 2020 does not mean a mere numerical tabulation of votes but an assessment of the credibility of votes as contemplated by Order No. 60 of 2020.”
Order No. 60 of 2020 is the legal document which paved the way for the national recount which is still only at Phase Three of a four-phase process. Throughout Phase One of the process which ran from May 6 to June 7, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) had vehemently argued against the conduct of more than a simple numerical count.
However, the APNU+AFC pointed to the Order which states that both the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) and the Commission have to assess any discrepancies coming out of the recount which would be noted in a summary of Observation Reports.
In this summary of the Observation Reports, presented to the Commission by the CEO on June 13, he outlined 4,864 cases of voter impersonation and more than 2,000 anomalies which were verified by the Commission. Both votes affected and unaffected were highlighted.
In conclusion to these cases, he had noted that the complete results, though putting the PPP/C in the lead, “clearly does not appear to satisfy the criteria of impartiality, fairness, and compliance with provisions of the Constitution and the ROPA Cap 1:03.”
VALID VOTES ONLY
Given his remarks, the APNU+AFC had reiterated its position based on Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act which states: “The Chief Elections Officer shall calculate the total number of valid votes of electors which have been cast for each list of candidates and thereupon shall ascertain the results of the election in accordance with sections 97 and 98. 97.”
On Monday, the Court of Appeal ruled that the words “more votes cast” in Article 177 (2) (b) of the Constitution must be interpreted as “more valid votes cast” in keeping with Order No. 60 of 2020. The Court said that the recount was not intended to be a mere numerical tabulation of votes but an assessment of the credibility and validity of votes as contemplated in the recount Order.
In response, the governing party stated: “The APNU+AFC, from the inception of this process, maintained that elections cannot be arbitrary and results cannot be based on fraudulent and illegitimate votes. Elections with proven illegitimate and ‘defective’ votes bring into question the credibility of those votes and cannot be foisted upon the people of Guyana. Illegitimate votes, cannot be included in the consideration of ‘valid votes’ to determine a credible outcome.”
It said that the recount proved that thousands of votes were affected by fraud, discrepancies and anomalies which include voter impersonation, missing ballots, unstamped ballots, missing poll books, missing oaths of identity, unsigned oaths of identity, more ballots than electors found in ballot boxes and other grave issues.
“The judgment of the Court of Appeal vindicates the position of APNU+AFC Coalition which it has maintained throughout. The APNU+AFC Coalition now calls on the Guyana Elections Commission to do its duty and complete its work to ensure that credible results for the March 2nd elections are declared based on the valid votes cast,” the party stated.
THE RULING IS CLEAR
Weighing in on the ruling just outside the Court of Appeal, People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R) Executive, Aubrey Norton, said that the CEO, Keith Lowenfield, now has clear directions from the Court which he must abide by.
Norton said his party and its coalition partners are pleased that the Court has interpreted the law in its rightful sense which will ensure that only credible results are declared from Guyana’s General and Regional Elections.
“Our position has always been that you cannot go to a recount and then treat the recount as if it had no meaning. You had to deal with the letter and spirit of the law and when one looks at that, it seems almost obvious that you had to consider the observation report and you had to separate votes that are not valid from votes that are valid,” he stated.
While several reports coming from observation missions had previously urged GECOM to make a declaration on the ballots which the CEO noted in his report were compromised, the PNC/R Executive said that the Court has now given finality.
He said: “I believe that some people wanted to pre-determine the outcome and it is good that we have the Courts to look at the law and to conclude…it is unfortunate that some sections of the international community arrived at their conclusion before the facts [but] the facts are now out and, I do believe, that if they keep to their word that they want a President sworn in based on law, that is credible, then I think the ruling has been clear.”
Moving forward, he urged the Commission to improve the rules and regulations governing its polling day staff which should ensure that the importance of key documents such as poll books, oaths of identity and the ticked-off Official List of Electors (OLE), are understood.
When it comes to Constitutional reform, he shares the views of his party that the ‘winner-take-all’ system must be done away with if Guyana’s leaders truly want their country to realise greater development.
“We have to, at some stage, seek to resolve the issues that underpin the tension and division that occur in our society,” he stated.
Source: https://issuu.com/guyanachroniclee-paper/docs/guyana_chronicle_e-paper_6-23-2020