Investigation launched into anomalies found at Diamond Nursery School

DPI, Guyana, Monday, May 18, 2020

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has launched an investigation into anomalies that were uncovered today in the ballot boxes for District Four at the Diamond Nursery School.

It was disclosed by GECOM’s Public Relations (PRO) Officer Yolanda Ward, that during the national recount process, it was uncovered today that there was a mix up of the Official List of Electors from two polling stations that were located in the Diamond Nursery School.

Ward explained that the OLE for box 2124 was in box 2122 and vice versa. The issue was raised today by Coalition counting agent Varun Mohabir.

“The commission decided to request the presence of those two POs to have an investigation as to what may have caused this to occur,” she told the media.

Responding to queries the PRO said that there is nothing in Guyana’s laws that stipulates how the election body should handle this situation. She noted that based on the findings of the investigations the most GECOM can do is recommend that the POs not be employed with GECOM in the future.

However, she noted that will have to be a decision of the commission after the investigation.

It was reported earlier that the boxes resealed and replaced in the container, however, Ward clarified that the ballots in both boxes were counted.

Also, following the completion of the recount of Region One yesterday, there were several discrepancies found.

A total of 47 certificates of employment (COEs) are missing from the 26 boxes examined. Fifty (50) COEs were recorded on the OLEs for these boxes but only three were found in the respective boxes.

Further, in ballot box 1045, there was no OLE. The only contents in this box were the total ballots used.

It was noted that these anomalies put in doubt the credibility of numerous votes.