…writes GECOM requesting meeting on a range of issues

EVEN as the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is putting systems in place to facilitate a National Recount, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) is planning to challenge the process for a fourth time in the Courts, a reliable source has said.

Since the conduct of the March 2 General and Regional Elections, the PPP/C, under the leadership of Bharrat Jagdeo, has filed at least three legal proceedings in the High Court, and according to the source, if its demands to the Commission are not met, the party will move to the Court at some stage of the recount.

On Wednesday, Executive Member of the PPP/C Anil Nandlall wrote the Chairperson of the Elections Commission, Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh, requesting a meeting to discuss the National Recount of ballots. The letter was written on behalf of the General Secretary and Leader of the PPP/C, Bharrat Jagdeo.

In the letter, Nandlall indicated that the PPP/C is hoping to solicit clarification on the live streaming of the recount; the sequence by and manner in which the recount will be done, in terms of the Electoral Districts; and thirdly, whether or not, the method of counting will be done in accordance with Section 87 of the Representation of the People Act.

“It is our hope that this meeting is facilitated soonest and before the finalisation of the procedures that will govern the recount process,” Nandlall said in the letter.
The letter to the GECOM Chair comes days after the Elections Commission rejected the majority of 10 motions tabled by Opposition nominated Commissioner Sase Gunraj, including motions which addressed live streaming and the tabulation process.
In his motion, Gunraj sought approval to have the entire National Recount live streamed on

traditional and or social media but the motion was overturned on the grounds that such a decision would be in breach of Section 90 of the Representation of the People Act.
Section 90 of the Representation of the People Act states: “Every person attending at the counting of votes shall maintain and shall not communicate any information obtained at the recount as to the list of Candidates for which any vote has been given.”

Justice Singh, in making her decision, had belaboured the point that to live stream the National Recount; particularly the tabulation of the votes within the ballot boxes, would be to violate the Representation of the People Act.

That Act, the GECOM Chair, emphasized speaks to the secrecy of the tabulation process. “Because of the secrecy, they cannot show the ballot but what they can do, they can show the results after it would have been tabulated, I have no problem that,” Justice Singh explained.

Given the charged political atmosphere within Guyana at the moment, the GECOM Chair, in making her decision, submitted that it would be unwise to expose those involved in the tabulation exercise to the public. However, Justice Singh noted that during the tabulation process, those persons who are entitled to be there, in accordance with Section 86 of the Representation of the People Act, will be allowed to observe the process. Those persons include members of the Commission, duly appointed candidates, counting agents and observers.

In relation to the manner in which the recount will be done, in terms of the Electoral Districts; the Elections Commission has long indicated that the votes cast in Region 4 will be tabulated simultaneously with other Regions. There are a total of 10 Regions. However, Gunraj has repeatedly objected to such a method. He had proposed that Regions One and Four be tabulated first, and once those results are declared, the Commission can proceed to count other Electoral Districts but this proposal did not receive the support of the Commission.

LEGAL CHALLENGES
It was the PPP/C, through one of its supporters – the late Reeaz Holladar, that first moved the High Court on March 5, 2020 to block the declaration of the results for the General and Regional Elections on the grounds that the votes declared for Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), on March 4, were not completely verified. And though the High Court ruled in its favour on March 11, the PPP/C two days later on March 13, returned to the High Court after finding contempt proceedings against the Guyana Elections Commission, the Region Four Returning Officer (RO) Clairmont Mingo and the Secretariat.

Though the Court had ruled that the tabulation process was not entirely done in accordance with Section 84 of the Representation of the People Act, the Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George-Wiltshire had made it clear if candidates were dissatisfied with the Returning Officer, in terms of what was recorded, it was not for them to challenge the figure at that point in time, so as to cause disruption or chaos.

But though the Returning Officer, according to the Chief Elections Officer, had complied with the ruling of the Court, and had tabulated the Statements of Poll in the presence those persons entitled to be there, PPP/C on the night of March 13, again alleged that the process was flawed. The very next day, it moved to the Court again, however, the matter was shelved, following an agreement by the President David Granger and the Leader of the Opposition Bharrat Jagdeo to have a national recount. Subsequent to this decision, the PPP/C asked the Court to set aside the second declaration made by the Region 4 Returning Officer but the High Court ruled that it had no jurisdiction to hear the application filed by Jagdeo and Holladar.