GECOM to investigate ‘strange’ mix up of voters list in ballot boxes

May 19, 2020 News

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has launched an investigation to ascertain how the Official List of Electors (OLE) for two polling stations on the East Bank of Demerara got switched on elections day.

GECOM PRO Yolanda Ward

GECOM Public Relations Officer (PRO) Yolanda Ward explained to the media that the two polling stations, 2124 and 2122, were operating within in the same polling centre, on March 2, 2020.
Polling agents at the national recount yesterday discovered that for those two ballot boxes, the voter’s lists were mixed up.
“What we had was that upon opening those ballot boxes, we found that the Official List of Electors for 2124 was in 2122 and vice versa,” Ward said.
“The lists were switched. They were not in their rightful boxes.”
Upon the discovery, those ballot boxes were not counted, resealed and returned to the container, pending the outcome of the investigation. Ward stated that the Commission has requested the presence of the two Presiding Officers from that polling place to find out what may have led to the switch.
Commissioner Vincent Alexander deemed the discovery “strange” as he pointed out that the polling stations were “desolate and isolated”, working with individual OLE’s.
Ward noted that that there is nothing in the law spells out what action the Commission can take in such an occurrence. She said “That is dependent on the Commission based on the findings of the investigations.”