…Coalition ups pressure on electoral fraud claims
…says GECOM cannot sail calmly into the end of the recount while concerns go unanswered

IN a stern statement on Saturday, the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) called on Guyanese to demand answers from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) for the mountain of alleged cases of electoral fraud that have been unearthed during the ongoing National Recount of the ballots cast at the 2020 General and Regional Elections.

“We cannot sail calmly into the end of the recount while your concerns go unanswered, and a massive fraudulent operation was carried out on your electoral process; an operation which is systemic and pervasive,” APNU+AFC Campaign Manager, Joseph Harmon said as he called the Electorate to action.

While calling on Guyanese to demand answers from GECOM, Harmon pointed out that the ruling Coalition, in the last four days wrote a total of eleven letters to the Elections Commission on the irregularities that continue to surface, but has not gotten a response to date.

“You have a right to know what happened to your votes, and why persons who were not entitled to vote voted at your elections,” Harmon said. “You have a right to demand of your Elections Commission answers to questions raised by your political representative,” he told the APNU+AFC’s support base.

Since the start of the recount on May 6, the APNU+AFC has been pointing to a number of alleged irregularities and anomalies, including cases of unscrupulous people voting for persons who are dead or were out of the jurisdiction on March 2, when General and Regional Elections were held here.

As the recount progressed, a range of other anomalies and discrepancies arose, including missing Official Lists of Electors (OLEs), Certificates of Employment, Oaths of Identity and Poll Books among other issues.

According to Harmon, in the past week, the magnitude of the irregularities has increased. In his address, he pointed to cases in which ballot boxes were discovered with the incorrect OLEs; ballots for one region were found to have been cast in another region; and the rejection of the Disciplined Services’ votes due to their being unstamped during the intermixing of the ballots on E-Day.

MASSIVE VOTER-FRAUD
“Over the period 26th to the 28th of May,” Harmon disclosed, “our agents have identified, and from GECOM’s own records confirmed, that there was massive voter-fraud in Districts 7 and 8. Our election agent has written the Chairman of GECOM, calling for urgent investigation and response by GECOM before the tabulated votes in the regions are announced.”

Over that period, the APNU+AFC reportedly identified 83 cases of irregularities. Based on the Coalition’s examination of the anomalies, it has concluded that Districts One (Barima-Waini), Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) and Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) were specifically targeted for special operations by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).

Zeroing in on Regions Seven and Eight, Harmon pointed to a number of ballot boxes in which there were glaring irregularities. “For example, in Ballot Box 7079,” he said, “352 ballots were issued one day, yet 377 were discovered in the box at the recount. In Ballot Box 7024, fifty (50) counterfoils were missing from the ballots issued. This means that fifty (50) ballots have been casted elsewhere. Similar occurrences were found in Ballot Box 7003, where the wrong list of electors was found in the box.”

Harmon further pointed out that “in Box 7060, the list of electors ticked off for another station was found in this box,” while adding that there were seven (7) extra ballots cast in excess of the list and any other procedure which would allow it. The APNU+AFC, he said, has also taken note of what it describes as “the flagrant misuse” of Oaths of Identity, in which persons voted without any identification and without evidence of an oath of identity. According to Harmon, there were 326 such cases identified in 27 ballot boxes.

During the period May 26-28, the Coalition, while participating in the recounting of votes from District Eight, uncovered 83 cases in which persons without ID cards and oaths of identity were allowed to vote.

UNSTAMPED BALLOTS
The alleged case of unstamped ballots cast by members of the Disciplined Services remain another outstanding issue that the Elections Commission must address, Harmon submitted. Unstamped ballots are rejected, and are, therefore, not considered part of the valid votes that were cast.

That aside, Harmon said that the Coalition has thus far provided GECOM with a list of names with persons who are either dead or were out of the jurisdiction on Elections Day, but are marked off on the OLEs as having voted. “I can say to you that of the lists of migrants we submitted to GECOM, 90% of those persons were confirmed by the Chief Immigration Officer as being out of the country on 2nd March 2020, and this information is with GECOM,” Harmon said, while adding that Death Certificates have also been provided.

Harmon, while iterating a position made known to the Elections Commission, said the APNU+AFC strongly believes that the irregularities unearthed to date are proof of electoral fraud and tampering of the ballot boxes, and as such, warrants an immediate investigation, as they impact the credibility of the electoral process.

EVIDENCE-BASED
“My fellow Guyanese, as you can see, our intervention with GECOM has been based on evidence, and we require GECOM to act in a timely manner on these investigations, as the cumulative impact of these irregularities and fraud has a bearing on the validity of all votes. The qualitative figure so impacted is now in excess of 92,000,” Harmon said in his public address, while calling on GECOM to wake up. “Get your act together!” he urged GECOM in his closing remarks. The duration of the recount has been extended until June 13.