Dear Editor,
AS Election Day came to an end, the day was seen as a great success, with Guyana Elections Commission Officials dubbing it “Free and Fair”

**The Presiding Officer announced the close of poll at 6pm, the door of the station was closed, and they have organised for the count. The persons who remained inside the room were entitled to see the count; not just the officers, but the major parties, the counting agents, which have been accredited by GECOM, a process which has been through intense scrutiny. The officer first checked unused ballots, placing them in separate envelopes, that are well labelled and sealed. Tally sheets were distributed to the counting agents and the number of ballot papers were counted and recorded for later reference.

**Each ballot, when counted, was held up for each agent to clearly identify the mark for their party, and we must recognise that in several of the stations, no small-party was represented by agents; either they could not afford to pay them across the country, or persons were not willing to represent them during the count. Ballots were subsequently placed separately by identified parties, and were further examined by each elections officer. After the count, the Presiding Officer announced, for all present to hear, the result and the winner. Next was the preparation of the Statement of Poll, then countersigned by all witnesses present, each agent was then given a verified copy of that Statement; copies were also made for the Deputy Returning Officer, Returning Officer and the Chief Elections Officer, the Statement was then mounted outside the polling station for all to see. The ballot boxes were then sealed with molten sealing wax, with all used and unused election material inside and was transported, securely, to the office of the Returning Officer.

On arrival at the office, each Deputy Returning Officer, tabulated the results of the Statements of Poll of all the districts and sub districts in the area and then handed them over to the Returning Officer, who subsequently announces for all to hear, these results are considered final, unless an assigned Counting Agent requests a recount of the votes, which must be done before 12 noon after the day of election, via petition.

Both the manual and spreadsheet tabulation showed the winner of Region 4 and by the margin of victory, however the computer kept printing figures conflicting with that of the spreadsheet, arguably the computer had been hacked; the People’s Progressive Party, demanded that the results printed, were the ones that should be used, that they have Statements of Poll that reflect these figures, and this should be the results announced, when the GECOM officials resisted, that is when the confusion began.

The GECOM Officials, in the presence of the political parties and observers present, were verifying the Statements of Polls for Region Four; and instead of a peaceful, tranquil working environment, for an already stressful process, they were met with a barrage of treats, violent outbursts, storming of offices, breaking down doors and insults. It is even uncharacteristic of the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo to be in the centre of the melee, pulling and tugging at persons.

It is provided for by Section 90 of the Representation of the People Act, Cap 1:03 that:
Maintenance of secrecy at count – Every person attending at the counting of votes shall maintain and shall not communicate any information obtained at the count as to the list of candidates for which any vote has been given. Was this adhered to by anyone during the process? Why haven’t these questions been posited? GECOM officials were under duress for several hours; Where is the public outcry for those persons?

With an already verified process, and Statements of Poll present, along with GECOM’s tabulation on the spreadsheet, the Officials declared the results of Region 4.
I beg of you; which part of this process should be deemed undemocratic? The GECOM Officials were not allowed to do their work, they are the ones, as per constitution, who are allowed to choose the method of verification, you the Opposition, were the ones that continually kept halting the process; you are the ones to be blamed for the current situation.

In one vile swoop, the Opposition, People’s Progressive Party/Civic has tried to reverse the progress we have made in the last five years; by leaders, instigating violent and racist acts against citizens, damaging infrastructure and property, to what end. We have not broken any laws, it is a foolish notion, that the Opposition leader, should blame His Excellency the President David Granger for this; he is humbly waiting for the announcement, admonishing us all to be patient, loving and peaceful during this trying time.

I was asked the question, “Which race do you see yourself representing?”, I answered, “I am all races, I am a Guyanese, I represent them all.” Say no to Racism!

Now more than ever, Guyana, we need this punchline.

Moving Forward Together!

Regards
Douglas Charles Gittens
Candidate,