…asks GECOM to further increase workstations
THE People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), in a meeting with the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), tabled a number of recommendations to increase the rate at which the 2020 Elections Ballots are being recounted, among them a proposal for the number of workstations to be further increased, and the 25-day timeline be extended.
The PPP/C Delegation, which was led by its General Secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo, and included its Presidential Candidate, Irfaan Ali, met with the Elections Commission, on Wednesday, at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), where the recount is unfolding.
Less than an hour after exiting that meeting, Ali, in an interview with reporters on the outskirts of the Conference Centre, detailed the recommendations put to the Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh-led Elections Commission, while acknowledging the need to extend the timeline beyond 25 days.
Though the Elections Commission, in accordance with the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF) advice, established two additional workstations, taking the total number to 12, the PPP/C believes that this number is insufficient to meet the 25-day timeline, of which 15 days have already been exhausted.
“It is clear that with the two additional stations much more is needed if they are to achieve 100 boxes per day,” the PPP/C Presidential Candidate told reporters.
In signaling her initial intention to increase the number of workstations, the GECOM Chair had expressed the hope that the GECOM Secretariat would be able to process a total of 100 ballot boxes per day.
On Tuesday (May 19), one day after the Commission added two workstations to the existing 10, a total of 76 ballot boxes were processed – the highest recorded on any given day since the recount of the votes commenced on May 2.
With more than 1,700 ballot boxes left to be processed before the timeline expires, Ali said increased workstations would be a plausible solution to the issue at hand, emphasizing that it is important to complete the National Recount while the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Scrutinising Team is still present in Guyana.
“As you are aware, the CARICOM team is here for a period of 25 days; so this is one aspect of the equation GECOM and the political parties must take into consideration when we examine the timeline and when we examine what is needed to satisfy all of the stakeholders and to ensure that the process is completed in a transparent manner with CARICOM here,” Ali said.
Though the PPP/C did not indicate how many more workstations should be added, Ali, while cognisant of the likelihood that the deadline would not be met, said that the new time frame should not exceed one week and it should be clearly indicated by the Commission.
“We asked that the Commission works with CARICOM to accommodate an extension beyond the 25-day timeline,” the PPP/C Presidential Candidate said.
He proposed further that the additional workstations, if established, be assigned to Region 4 (Demerara-Mahaica) – the largest Electoral Block with a total of 879 ballot boxes.
“More than 40 per cent of the boxes that remain are boxes from Region 4 and we have less than 25 percent of the stations allocated to deal with Region 4. So the output has to be readjusted, and for this to be readjusted, the input, which is the station, needs to reflect the current situation where more than 40 percent of the outstanding boxes are from Region 4,” Ali reasoned.
In separate interviews, Elections Commissioners Vincent Alexander and Sase Gunraj, confirmed the Commission’s commitment to consider the recommendations made by the PPP/C, in particular the extension of the timeline and the addition of workstations.
“I think we had a clear understanding based on the contribution of the Leader of the Opposition that even as we try to accelerate the process, it would be difficult for us to achieve in 25 days,” Alexander said as he briefed the press on the meeting.
The Elections Commissioner, while noting that the 25-day timeline is no guarantee, reminded that the timeline was not cast in stone and as such is subject to review as outlined in the order gazetted on May 4.
While noting that the Elections Commission is further reviewing the recount process with the hope of increasing the number of workstations, Alexander said “it certainly wouldn’t be five,” when pressed for a figure by the press.
Meanwhile, in its string of recommendations, the PPP/C proposed the establishment of a quota system, whereby a minimum quota is set for each of the 12 workstations.
Further to that, the PPP/C, according to Ali, proposed that the operational hours be extended and an implementation of a shift system. Currently, the 12 workstations at the Conference Centre are operating for a period of 11 hours from 08:00hrs to 19:00hrs. However, the GECOM staff are required to be at the centre by 07:00hrs, covering a total of 12 hours.
Ali noted, too, that during the meeting, the PPP/C expressed concern that though clear decisions were made on a number of issues that arose since the commencement of the recount, those issues were still being re-examined at the workstations, thereby delaying the process further. As a solution, the party proposed that the station supervisors be briefed on the decisions of the Commission with regards to the arising issues.
