Automated vote tabulation technology impresses GECOM

Oct 07, 2014 News

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…stakeholders to decide on countrywide use for General Election – Lowenfield 

By Gary Eleazar
Elections in Guyana have been a nightmare for decades, each election with its own unique problems but at least one

common bugbear affecting each—timely results.
With the help of Canada’s High Commission to Guyana, Dr. Nicole Giles, the Delian Project, based in Ontario, Canada, this week delivered the results of elections held at the University of Guyana within minutes of the polls closing, utililising for the first time ever in Guyana’s history, an Automated Tabulation device.
High Commissioner, Dr. Nicole Giles, over the weekend hosted a reception at her residence to celebrate the project.
So impressive was the pilot project at the University of Guyana that it came in for glowing reviews from none other than Chief Elections Officer at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Keith Lowenfield.
The Chief Elections Officer joined several members of the diplomatic community, private sector and political representatives and lauded the initiative to the point where he said, the Commission would love to see the automated tabulation of votes being rolled out across the country for general or local government elections.
In addressing the celebratory gathering, Lowenfield informed that just over two years now GECOM engaged Delian against the backdrop of cries locally in relation to the timeliness of the declaration of results.
He observed that even though Guyana’s laws are very specific, timeliness of the declaration of results is a major concern.
According to Lowenfield, since the responsibility lies with GECOM, the Commission sought out measures to ensure that within the framework of the laws, this is rectified hence the meeting with the Delian delegation.
So interested is the GECOM’s CEO into the advent of automated vote tabulation, the Commission hosted the team in Wakenaam where another test run of the project could have been initiated taking into account some of the challenges that the Guyana demographics would pose.
Blackouts, he said, would naturally pose a problem to the Delian technology hence, the initiative in Wakenaam, which he reported to be very successful.
He said that in the end, the decision to use the system or not will be dependent on the outcome of engagements with stakeholders relative to the operationalisation of the Delian technology.
“I am satisfied that based on the observations I would have made myself, the deputy and commissioners of GECOM, that the system is workable.”
High Commissioner Giles sought to emphasize that free and fair elections are central to democracy and that it includes accurate, transparent, and timely elections with verifiable outcomes.
She quoted, Jean-Pierre Kingsley, Chief Electoral Officer for Canada between 1990-2007 who said, “It is basic tenet of democracy that election results be released to the public as soon as they are available – and technology has done a lot to make that possible.”
Giles used the opportunity to applaud the University of Guyana for taking the lead in bringing the technology to Guyana.
“I would also like to thank the Delian Project team for taking the time out of their very busy schedules to come to Guyana to deliver this pilot…From Canada to the Philippines, the use of automated ballot scan and tabulation machines has increased trust in the management of elections, improved voting security, and sped up the delivery of results.”
According to Dr. Giles, key priorities for Canada in the Americas are supporting democratic development and promoting sustainable economic growth adding that the two are inextricably linked.
“When citizens are fully engaged with and participate in public decision-making, sustainable economic growth follows… As accountability and responsiveness is strengthened, so is the commitment of individual citizens to actively participate in governance.
“It also creates increased space for civil society, private sector, and other non-state actors to have their voices heard.”
Dr. Giles said that she was confident that the pilot project will help the University of Guyana to be even more responsive to the needs of its students and to expand student engagement.
According to Dr. Giles “It is my hope that the success of this pilot will encourage elections officials, political parties, citizens, the private sector, civil society and academe to explore together, how voter technology can be used to strengthen voter confidence, rapidly return results and increase electoral participation in Guyana.”
Also addressing those at the modest gathering was Project Director John Hollins, as well as Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Dr. Barbara Reynolds.

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