– GECOM meets today to discuss way forward
AT the end of Friday, 76 ballot boxes from the Demerara-Mahaica Region (Region Four) were processed, however, a number of those counted boxes were not tabulated due to the absence of important documents, and the commission’s decision is being awaited.
In fact, Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Commissioner Vincent Alexander, told the media that all the documents for some 21 boxes were missing. These boxes contained only ballots. This was an issue that was raised on Thursday by A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) executive member Joseph Harmon, and the very irregularity continued the following day.
This, Alexander said, is very strange, especially since they are coming in a cluster, and all seems to be in People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) strongholds.
“A significant number of boxes from Thursday into Friday were found with only ballots in their contents. The other documents, the Official List of Electors (OLE), the counterfoils, all those documents which [are] supposed to give information about who should have voted, are not in the box. This is strange, and what is even stranger is that it’s coming in a cluster. It’s not one far and in between. There are those who would argue there were similar instances prior, but I myself don’t recall a similar instance where absolutely nothing else other than ballots [is] in the box. Here we have this apparent cluster,” Alexander posited.
In addition to the cluster, coincidentally or not, all these boxes reflect exceedingly high figures for the PPP/C.
These boxes came from polling stations such as Montrose Primary School, People’s Assembly of God Church, LBI Primary School, Chateau Margot Primary School, and more.
Alexander said that the decision made,is to have the secretariat do an investigation into this matter, and to render a report before proceeding to making a determination in relation to the ballots.
The question of whether these ballots can be deemed invalid due to the absence of the documents is still to be determined by the commission, he noted further.
“There’s no reconciliation to what is in the boxes… But at the end of the day you cannot disenfranchise anyone because people must have voted and therefore the question that will have to be asked, is what happened, or how you can ensure these people have voted. The question to the people’s franchise has to be processed,” Alexander said.
The meeting is set for today to decide a way further on these boxes with missing documents and the immigration list, among other issues.
Source: https://issuu.com/guyanachroniclee-paper/docs/guyana_chronicle_epaper_06_06_2020