…writes COVID-19 taskforce for advice
THE Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is interested in increasing the number of workstations within the Arthur Chung Conference Centre to speed up the national recount, but now awaits approval from the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF) which will visit the centre today.
Chair of GECOM, Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh told this newspaper on Tuesday that the NCTF will decide how many workstations can be added, while maintaining safe practices in light of the deadly coronavirus epidemic.
Commissioner Sase Gunraj averages that about six additional stations can be accommodated within the building, which could increase simultaneous counting to over 100 boxes per day.
Provided the increase in approved, Justice Singh has also noted that the commission’s goal would be at least 100 ballot boxes per day to allow the commission to meet its 25-day timeline. To date, the highest number of ballot boxes counted by the commission is 54, but the opposition has been clamouring for this number to be increased.
Representatives of the NCTF first visited the centre on April 23, 2020 and initially approved the current 10 workstations ,which are facilitating the recount of ballots cast in Regions One,Two,Three and Four. However, following the commission’s meeting yesterday, GECOM Public Relations Officer (PRO) Yolanda Ward confirmed that the NCTF will do another analysis to determine what additions can be made. Given the May/June rainy weather, it is unlikely that any additional stations will be placed outside the centre
“We are still cognisant of the COVID-19 pandemic and of course, as you’re aware, there was a report that was provided to us by the task force based on their initial assessment of this venue,” Ward said.
“At the conclusion of that meeting, a few of the commissioners had a quick look around to see where they could possibly establish those additional workstations; they haven’t decided on a number of workstations to be established because we still have to be conscious in terms of requirements for physical and social distancing.”
Ward averages that some 70-80 ballot boxes per day could be possible with additional workstations.
As regards additional staff who would be needed, she said that teams are currently working on a rotational basis, but it can be considered that they work daily, or GECOM can tap into its some 400 staff members.
Speaking with the media subsequently, Commissioner Alexander said that himself and Commissioner Robeson Benn had done a walkabout within the building and identified five possible spaces for additional workstations.
He added that while GECOM is prepared to comply with whatever decision is made by the NCTF, it must be considered that, on average, there are already about 400 persons at the centre, inclusive of party representatives, police, observers, GECOM staff, food handlers and maintenance.
“We’re at 400 and therefore we certainly have to be very concerned if we continue to add to that number,” he said.
The commissioner also stated that GECOM had already agreed on a number of persons per workstation which, at its maximum is 18 and any additional workstation must be established within this context.
With regard to a possible extension of the 25-day timeline, Alexander said that as the process continues, the commission will have to adjust itself as necessary.
Meanwhile, there were several other deliberations by the commission with the aim of meeting the 25-day timeline. One of these is a possible reduction of the items required to be crossed off a checklist before counting proceeds.
For example, Ward said that one of the PE envelopes within ballot boxes includes the folio which is not an essential document to the process. The commission will make a final decision today on this matter.
Additionally, the commission has decided that compliance or smooth progress will not be recorded on Observation Reports, but only anomalies which will help to save additional time.
It was decided that if there are objections from parties to allegations made, this will also be noted in the Observation Reports.
Party agents will also be provided with Statements of Recount (SORs) whether or not they sign on to them.
GECOM will also meet the request of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) to provide a document with a list of issues and their resolutions; these will be provided to the involved stakeholders to eliminate further referrals to the commission on said issues.
The document with about 25 issues will be prepared, passed on to the secretariat and later to the GECOM staff at their respective work stations for implementation. They include matters related to the six-digit stamp, smudge markings on ballot papers and the allotted lunch period.
Commissioner Gunraj also told the media that the decision was made to scan ballots randomly instead of every single ballot; additionally, a suggestion has been made for a targeted number of ballot boxes to be completed daily and will be set for each workstation.
For the aforementioned matters still awaiting a final decision, the commission will meet at 13:00hrs to facilitate the same.
The commission is also expected to meet with the PPP/C’s party representatives today, while the APNU+AFC, which has also requested a meeting, has been asked to prepare a list of its concerns beforehand.
As the recount continues its seventh day today, Ward said that Region One is the closest to completion with over 70 ballot boxes counted, with the region having a total of 99 boxes.
