THE Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM)is fully prepared to defend itself against an Election Petition to be filed by the People’s Progressive Party /Civic (PPP/C) challenging the results of the 2015 General and Regional elections.This is according to GECOM Chairman, Dr Steve Surujbally,who, in an invited comment,said: “GECOM is fully prepared to defend our declaration.”

Last Saturday,the full Commission, which includes six Commissioners and Dr Surujbally,voted four-three in support of the official declaration being made. Three Commissioners objected to the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield,making a final declaration in light of the many irregularities in the electoral process that were flagged by the PPP/C.
Dr Surujbally declined to comment further on the matter.
Meanwhile,the PPP/C continues its work on compiling a comprehensive case to support its Election Petition.
The wrongs highlighted by the PPP/C last week include: the discovery of falsified Statements of Poll (SoP);the refusal of GECOM to have public vetting of polling day staffers, many of whom were discovered to be activists of the political Opposition; misdirection by some GECOM staffers who had “advised” voters;incidents of multiple voting; incidents of persons turning up at polling stations and were told they had voted already; damaged stamps that saw some ballots not being properly stamped; the fact that persons without identification cards were allowed to vote, even though their images did not match those in the files of GECOM staff; and the denying proxy holders the use of their

proxies, among others.

Recounts were requested before and after the official declarations were made, but these were rejected. Also denied was the PPP/C request for the SoPs, Tally Sheets and a breakdown of results of each Polling Division or ballot boxes.
Given that the election results have been officially declared, despite the fact that these concerns were raised, the PPP/C is advancing legal action to have a recount ordered by Guyana’s courts.
The former Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, in a prior comment on this move explained that evidence is being compiled to support an Election Petition, which will be filed in the High Court.
“The court will order the recount, because it is my expectation that we will put enough evidence to the court to show that these elections should be vitiated,that there were material irregularities that would have materially changed the results declared,” he said.
Declining to comment on an exact number, Nandlall stressed that in the absence of the irregularities flagged by the PPP/C,the party would have won the elections by “thousands” and not have lost by a small margin of just over 4,000 votes.“We would have won the elections by several thousands.I don’t want to discuss the figure,” he said.
Until then, protest actions outside GECOM offices in coastal regions continue, with another one slated for Monday at the Commission’s main office in Kingston.
By Vanessa Narine