…President Granger says massive irregularities, electoral fraud could lead nullification

DELIBERATIONs on the Chief Elections Officer (CEO)’s Report on the National Recount could result in the 2020 General and Regional Elections being nullified due the widespread irregularities and allegations of voter impersonation that have been uncovered, a move that would, undoubtedly, land Guyana in “uncharted waters,” President David Granger has said.

That deliberation is expected to commence today (June 15) when the Chair of the Elections Commission, Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh meets with the six Elections Commissioners — Vincent Alexander, Sase Gunraj, Charles Corbin, Robeson Benn, Desmond Trotman and Bibi Shadick — at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM)’s Headquarters on High and Cowan Streets, Kingston.

In the Report, which comprises a tabulation of the votes recounted and a Summary of Observation Reports for each of the 10 Electoral Districts, Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield indicated that the General and Regional Elections held on March 2, 2020 lacked credibility due to 4,864 suspected cases of voter impersonation, and more than 2,000 anomalies that have impacted well over 200,000 votes across the 10 Electoral Districts. Due to the overwhelming number of anomalies, and instances of voter impersonation, he concluded that the Elections did not satisfy the criteria of impartiality, fairness and compliance with the Constitution and the Representation of the People Act.

UNCHARTED WATERS
While acknowledging GECOM’s independence, President Granger said that the Elections Commission could either instruct the CEO to compile a report for declaration, on the basis that the information contained in his Report on the National Recount is factual and credible, in its view, or it could decide that as a result of the “huge body of irregularities” cited in the Report on the National Recount, the basis does not exist for a declaration to be made.

“I think they can very well say that we cannot make a declaration, because the information indicates that the process has been badly flawed,” President Granger told journalists during an interview at State House on Sunday.

Such a move, he posited, would land Guyana in “uncharted waters”. The Head of State added: “It is widely known that if a declaration is made, and an interested party feels aggrieved, it can go to the Courts, but, if there is no declaration, I think we are [going to be] in a legal no-man’s land.”

With the country running low on funds due to the absence of a National Budget, President Granger said that should the Elections be nullified, a mechanism would have to be put in place to reconvene Parliament to allow for finances to be appropriated to keep the country afloat, as it manoeuvres the “uncharted” territory. The Parliament was dissolved on December 30, 2019 to pave way for the 2020 Elections.

However, the president noted that any move to reconvene Parliament would require “some form of agreement” among the Members of the 11th Parliament. “I cannot at this point say what legal mechanism could be employed to reconvene the 11th Parliament,” he posited while noting that not much progress would be made in the absence of a Parliament, should the elections be nullified.

STATE OF EMERGENCY
Asked whether such a situation could result in a ‘State of Emergency’ being declared, President Granger responded in the affirmative, but was keen on noting that it would have to be done in consultation with Leader of the Opposition Bharrat Jagdeo and other critical stakeholders.

“It is possible,” he said, in responding to the question, while adding,“It is not an option that I would embark on without receiving the agreement of all the parties concerned. I don’t think it should be undertaken lightly, or arbitrarily.”

Guyana’s Parliament was reconvened in 1991 to treat with a number of issues of national importance, including elections-related matters, due to a delay in the elections.

THE FINAL DECISION
But arriving at a final decision would be no walk in the park for the Elections Commission, as while the Government-nominated Commissioners have argued that credibility cannot be established without taking into account the massive irregularities that have been unearthed, the Opposition-nominated Commissioners have been resolute in their position that the results of the elections should be declared, based on the votes tabulated during the recount.

It is not the role of GECOM to deliberate and pronounce on the irregularities that surfaced, the Opposition has always maintained, while failing to take into consideration the ruling of the High Court Article 162 (1) (b) gives wide powers to the Elections Commission to ensure an impartial and fair elections process.

Based on the Statements of Recount (SORs) which were generated and tabulated at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) secured 233,336 votes, while the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU+AFC) raked in 217,920. But while the recount shows the PPP/C in the lead by 15,416 votes, massive irregularities and alleged cases of voter impersonations have affected well over 229,000 votes.