Three final regions under review
—as 97 ballot boxes completed today
DPI, Guyana, Monday, June 1, 2020
The national recount of the March 2, 2020, General and Regional Elections has now been narrowed down to three regions as the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) nears the conclusion of the process.
With the completion of Region Nine (Upper Takatu-Upper Essequibo) today, counting agents are now focusing on the recount of Regions Four, Six, and Ten.
The Region Nine workstation has now been allocated to Region Ten. As of today, five workstations are counting ballots from Region Four, four for Region Six and three for Region 10.
Today’s recount saw 97 ballot boxes being reviewed. This includes 36 boxes from Region Four, 33 from Region Six, two from region Nine and 26 from Region 10.
The tabulation process saw 1,780 Statements of Recount (SOR) for the General Election and 1,776 for the Regional polls.
Today’s tally has now brought the boxes recounted so far to 1,836 with 503 remaining.
GECOM’s Public Relation Officer (PRO) Yolanda Ward today said the Commission was making headway in the objections raised by the APNU+AFC party over excessive electoral fraud during the elections.
As part of providing evidence to claims of out of jurisdiction voters on E-day, the Coalition had provided a list of names to the Commission for verification by the Chief Immigration Officer.
According to Ward, the elections body “would have indicated that 172 out of the 207 did not arrive or return to Guyana on or before March 2, 2020.”
She said the full Commission will have to decide on the way forward concerning the information received.
Out of the rising objections to mounting discrepancies during the recount process, the Commission has requested that the APNU+AFC present its evidence. The Coalition has since been doing so.
The Coalition has proven that over 200,000 votes have now been affected by electoral fraud.
In a recent statement, the APNU+AFC’ s Campaign Manager and Election Agent, Joseph Harmon said that the Coalition had sent eleven letters to the Elections Commission, speaking to the irregularities emanating from the recount.
At the end of Sunday, May 31, some 1,144 ballots were examined, exposing more than 4000 irregularities. These irregularities have amounted to some 221, 244 votes being affected.