—but GECOM salvaged contents of water-logged Region One ballot box
– 479 ballot boxes processed to date
THE Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Secretariat has successfully retrieved the contents of a ballot box that was filled with water; however, the number of workstations to be added to the existing 10 has not been finalised.
While the Secretariat has been accelerating the rate at which it is processing the ballot boxes from the March 2 General and Regional Elections, it was initially unable to count the waterlogged ballots from the box which came from Region One (Barima-Waini).
However, having been dried, the ballots were processed in keeping with the May 4 Order, which legally triggered the national recount of the votes cast at the March 2 General and Regional Elections.
“The Region One box was completed. All the ballots were visible,” GECOM’s Public Relations Officer, Yolanda Ward, disclosed on Friday.
The ballot box in question came from Kariako, Moruca, Region One. Upon the opening of one of the containers on Wednesday May 6 at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), the box was discovered with water inside due to a hole in the container. The contents of the box, inclusive of ballots, had been submerged in water. A decision was taken to drain the water out but not to open the box until it was time to count the votes from that polling block.
On Thursday, the contents were placed to dry in a secured location and on Friday, the ballots were recounted. Kariako has a voting population of less than 200 electors.
In an interview with reporters on the outskirts of the Arthur Chung Conference Centre – the site for the national recount, Elections Commissioner, Sase Gunraj, said he was pleased to be informed by the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, that the ballots from Kariako were salvaged.
“We received information from the CEO earlier on today that the contents of that ballot box, at least the ballots in it, have been more or less retrieved and an attempt will be made by the end of today to have the contents thereof checked. That of course will bring to completion or finality District One,” Gunraj told reporters. Ward later confirmed that the ballots were processed.
479 BALLOT BOXES PROCESSED
The recounting of those ballots from Kariako brings the counting process for Region One to an end with all 99 ballot boxes from that electoral district processed. The statements of recount (SORs) for that electoral district are now being tabulated.
On Friday, in addition to the one ballot box from Kariako, Region One, 57 other ballot boxes were counted from Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) and Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice).
According to GECOM’s PRO, one box was processed from Region One, 13 from Region Two, 17 from Region Three, 15 from Region Four and 12 from Region Five – a total of 58 ballot boxes. In total, votes from 479 ballot boxes have been recounted since the commencement of the national recount.
DECISION PENDING
But with 1,860 ballot boxes left to be processed within a period of approximately 15 days, the Elections Commission, headed by Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh, is looking at the possibility of increasing the number of workstations. There are 10 workstations currently in operation; however, in an attempt to accelerate the pace at which the ballots are being processed, 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 Taskforce in light of the emergency measures that have been put in place.
With a visit conducted by representatives of the taskforce on Thursday, a report was expected yesterday (Friday), but that it has not been forthcoming.
Commissioner Gunraj, in expressing his dissatisfaction, told reporters that a meeting of the Elections Commission was postponed due to the absence of that report from the National COVID-19 Taskforce. That meeting, however, will be held today from 14:00hrs at the conference centre.
Gunraj said even as the commission awaits the advice of the taskforce, the secretariat has already established one of the six additional workstations but is awaiting clearance before it is placed into operation.
He, however, believes that the work of GECOM should not be stymied as a result of the slothfulness of the taskforce. “As we speak, we have at least one facility that has been set up that can be populated with employees of GECOM, stakeholders and observers as catered to in the Law and exemplified in the order. And we can have that starting now, however, we are hamstrung,” Gunraj said.
While the pace at which the ballots are being recounted is increasing, Gunraj admitted that even with additional workstations, GECOM may not be able to complete the entire recount during the 25-day timeline, and may require an extension of that period.
It is unclear at this point, whether the commission, at this stage, would finalise its decision on the number of workstations to be added in the absence of a report from the taskforce or whether it will move to increase the timeline. These issues are likely to come up for discussion today when Justice Singh meets with the Elections Commission.
Source: https://issuu.com/guyanachroniclee-paper/docs/guyana_chronicle_epaper_16_05_2020