I WRITE to applaud GECOM for its difficult work in the elections. Organising and holding an election in Guyana are no easy tasks. Counting the ballots and declaring the winner is even more difficult. 

And several questions have been raised about the credibility of the conduct of the elections and the certification of the results that cannot be dismissed. It should not be a court matter.It should be an accounting matter that can be easily rectified.
Evidence has been presented to challenge the counting of the ballots and the tabulation of the results.
Serious allegations have been made and there were even suggestions of a conspiracy (between GECOM staff and another party) and attempts to cover up fraud. In order to remove any doubts about the outcome, GECOM should seek to undertake a recount of the ballots and a verification of the SoPs along with those given to the parties immediately after the ballots were counted.
It is not too much to ask when there is a cloud of suspicion, especially when there is a close outcome. The Elections Commission must give the reassurance that it is not politically biased.
As reported, GECOM’s chairman stated that all the ballots were recounted, as requested by the PPP in Regions 1, 2, and 8. We now learn, from the PPP, that no recounts were undertaken, and that only the SoPs were recounted. GECOM, therefore, has misled the public and the diplomatic community, if what the PPP is claiming is true.
We are told that the Returning Officers (ROs) are opposed to a recount. If there were suspicions about the result, why would they be opposed to a recount? If the count is right, and they are confident about their numbers, why not have a second count? It won’t take long and it would have erased all doubts about an APNU+AFC victory.
It is imperative that the Elections Commission act with alacrity and remove concerns that it is contaminated with politically biased staff, including ROs. The public would also like to know how faked SoPs ended up in the office for input into the computers to determine the winner (but that is for a subsequent investigation).
The APNU+AFC coalition carried out a fantastic campaign, far more effective than the PPP and deserves a victory. But the party should oppose a recount, failing which it will cast doubt about its earned victory. The party should agree to a recount forthwith, since it will not want to be viewed as being elected under a cloud of suspicion.
The PPP has requested that 22 boxes be recounted in Region 4, where the party felt the numbers are not correct. The party says if the counts correspond to what are on its tally sheets, it will concede the results. That is a fair request. APNU+AFC should agree to the recount to erase all doubts that it has won. Even if APNU+AFC forms the government as seems inevitable, a recount is in order. GECOM should act immediately.

VISHNU BISRAM