Recount of Region Five votes completed; workstations assigned to Regions 8,9

Last Updated on Monday, 25 May 2020, 14:36 by Denis Chabrol

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) confirmed that the recount of ballots in Region Five- Mahaica/ West Berbice- was completed on Monday afternoon.

The certification of the results for region five is now up to the completion of the tabulations of the total votes cast at  the 158 polling stations across Mahaica- West Berbice

GECOM spokeswoman Yolanda Ward says the two counting stations that were assigned to Region Five are now being used to recount 55 boxes of ballots for Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) and 73 boxes for Region Nine (Upper Takatu-Upper Essequibo).

The regions completed on Day-20 are regions one, two and five. Recount is ongoing in regions three, four, six, seven, eight and nine.

Up to Sunday, a mere 266 of 879 boxes of ballots for Region Four had been counted.

A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) officials have said their coalition would refuse to  sign any other certificates of results for the remaining regions after the GECOM commission indicated definitively how the objections in the observation reports would be addressed.

The seven-member Commission was Monday afternoon locked in a meeting.

Elections Commissioners from both the opposition and coalition camps have said refusal to sign certificates of results will not render the recount illegal.

The APNU+AFC is claiming it lost many votes as a result of persons voting in the place of the deceased and migrated which were on a bloated official list of electors. 

The commission has requested  APNU +AFC to formally submit evidence the party has to substantiate those claims.

That move the People’s Progressive Party and A New and United Guyana say will be unconstitutional because only an election petition can constitutionally address such allegations.

(story by Sean Embrack. Edited by Denis Chabrol)