THE will of the Guyanese people was not accurately reflected in the results of the 2015 General and Regional Elections that were declared by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), according to the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C).“Even before these results were declared, we unearthed numerous differences in numbers from our Statements of Poll and more importantly, from a verification exercise carried out by the

returning officers in the various polling districts at which representatives from all the political parties were present,” the party said.
The PPP/C charged that its counting agents have evidence to show that while the GECOM Chairman claims that the PPP/C and GECOM SoPs are the same, the deputy returning officers (DROs) have different numbers.
Consequently, the Commission has been called to release copies of the Statements of Poll (SoPs), tally sheets and a breakdown of the results for each polling division – the second such call made since the party raised objections to irregularities that were flagged in the electoral process.
“We hereby demand that GECOM furnish us with copies of these Statements of Poll, Tally Sheets and a breakdown of results of each polling division or ballot boxes forthwith. The longer they take to do so the darker the clouds will become which loom over the integrity of the electoral machinery and indeed the results which it produced,” the PPP/C said in a statement.
The party added, “…significantly, after the declaration of the results, we had made a request in writing for the copies of Statements of Poll and Tally Sheets which were used to tabulate the results of these elections and a breakdown of the results from each polling division or ballot box. To date, we have received no reply to our request.”
OBJECTIONS IGNORED
The PPP/C underscored the fact that despite its objections, calls for a recount were ignored by GECOM.
“We requested a final, general count as we are entitled to at law. The returning officers have no discretion to refuse this request. Yet this request was refused. Therefore, this integral procedural step legally provided for and designed to ensure the integrity of the results for these elections was deliberately omitted,” the statement said.

The PPP/C expressed the view that the information requested ought to have been made public “contemporaneously” with the declaration of the results.
“We fear that this delay is another machination which is being used to alter Statements of Poll and Tally Sheets, as a result of the discrepancies which we have identified and in the face of a public pronouncement that we will launch a legal challenge to these elections,” the party stressed.
Initial concerns cited by the PPP/C, which were documented and forwarded to GECOM, include: misdirection by some GECOM staffers who advised voters, 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 denial of proxy holders to use their proxies, among others.
Meanwhile, several attempts by the Guyana Chronicle to contact both Chief Elections Officer (CEO) and the Chairman of GECOM for a comment on the matter proved futile, up to press time.
By Vanessa Narine