DURING the verification of Statement of Polls (SoPs) yesterday by the Returning Officers (ROs) of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), it was discovered that the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) were short-changed some 109 votes from Region 8, Potaro – Siparuni. In the release of the General Preliminary results by GECOM on Thursday, May 14, it was revealed that the PPP had secured 1,727 votes in the Region 8 district. This result came after all the ballot boxes for that region had been counted.
However, prior to the announcement of the preliminary results on Thursday, GECOM had released information on Wednesday, May 13, which recorded a total of 1,836 in the same district for the PPP. As was evident however, the votes for the PPP were reduced by 109 within 24 hours.
As of yesterday, following a recount call by the PPP, the new figure suggested that the party had indeed secured the 109 votes which had been absent the day before.
With this new development, GECOM’s SoPs will now have to be adjusted to reflect an accurate figure which corresponds with that of the PPP and the RO.
Meanwhile, GECOM, in a statement yesterday, sought to inform the public that it shares the anxiety of the populace, but that the body is “constrained by the legal requirements,” which they are mandated to observe.
They further added that relative to the process of declaring the results, those results have now been declared by the respective ROs for the 10 Electoral Districts. However, by law, the political parties may raise objections by midday of the day after the last of the 10 declarations.
For that reason, GECOM said, since the last declaration was made yesterday morning, the Commission has to wait until noon today before it can pronounce on a final declaration. “This is the law,” the electoral body advised.
“The Commission is therefore asking the public to bear with it until midday today, before it advises on the next stage of the declaration of results,” GECOM pleaded.