GECOM to revise 25 day recount timeline today - 261 ballot boxes completed at the end of Day 6

GECOM to revise 25 day recount timeline today – 261 ballot boxes completed at the end of Day 6

May 12, 2020 News

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) will be meeting today to deliberate on several issues emerging from the ongoing national elections recount, including a revision of the 25-day timeline for completion.

GECOM PRO, Yolanda Ward

It has been six days since the recount commenced and representatives from the opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) along with the newer political parties have complained that the Commission may not be able to achieve that 25-day deadline set.
Public Relations Officer (PRO) for the Commission, Yolanda Ward had stated that the Commission after having a gauge of the first week of the recount would deliberate on whether the timeline would be extended. This meeting will happen tomorrow and Ward told the press that the public should have definitive word on whether this will be done.
At the end of day six, GECOM has counted 261 of the total 2,339 ballot boxes during the national recount exercise, currently ongoing daily at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) at Liliendaal on the East Coast of Demerara.
Ward, said to the press last evening that for day, 15 boxes were counted from Region One, 11 from Region Two, 15 from Region Three and 12 from Region Four, the region with the most controversial election results. She went on to say that yesterday, 247 Statements of Recount (SORs) from the General Elections were tabulated along with 235 from the Regional Elections.
In a release sent out last evening, the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C), appealed for the Chairman of GECOM, Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh, Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield, and the Deputy CEO, Roxanne Myers to give daily updates to the press and to defend the integrity of the elections.
Since the recount process has commenced, none of those officials have given direct updates to the media. Meanwhile, the Private Sector Commission (PSC) stated in a release yesterday that during the tabulation, the Observation Reports with unverified allegations and objections are being broadcast publicly without GECOM conducting any investigation as to whether the objections were factual or lawful and without comment from GECOM as to their accuracy or truthfulness.
Against this backdrop the PSC said, “It is our considered view that it is extremely dangerous to be publicizing unproven allegations for public consumption. We consider it most unfortunate that the Observation Reports are being used to disseminate unverified information in this manner and urge that you instruct that the Observation Reports not be broadcast unless or until its contents are verified.”
The Commission made a decision that GECOM staffers must ensure that the language used to document allegations in the Observation Report make it clear that those allegations have not been authenticated.