US Congressman introduces resolution urging acceptance of recount results

Jun 09, 2020 News

Yesterday US Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. issued a resolution in Congress encouraging participating political parties them to be contented with the recount results and the subsequent final declarations of the 2020 Regional and General Elections.

US Congressman Sanford Bishop.

Bishop, a 14-term Democrat representing, Georgia’s second congressional district, in his resolution commended the citizens of Guyana for exercising extreme restraint and courage throughout the tedious post-electoral process that has stretched for over three months since the elections were held on March 2, 2020.
Bishop stated that, “The people of Guyana have demonstrated enormous patience and courage during this recount. I remain hopeful that once the results of the recount are finalized, Guyana can embark on a future of great promise that reflects the will of their people.”
While the Coalition, after celebrating victory based on inflated votes in its favour by Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, is now claiming that the elections were massively flawed, after the final recount showed it lost the elections by 14,000 votes. Observers from the Organization of American States (OAS), the Carter Center, European Union and the Commonwealth described the voting process itself on election day as free and fair – however, they have pointed that that there were discrepancies in the Region Four tabulation process, leading to the decision being made to have a recount facilitated by the Guyana Elections Commission under the observation of the a high-level team from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
While encouraging Guyanese to be patient with the recount process, he urged them to be civil, saying “Finally, the resolution calls on the citizens of Guyana to remain calm and to respect the rule of law and human rights as the recount proceeds under the framework of respected democratic norms.”
Bishops’ resolution has been co-sponsored by four fellow Democratic Congresspersons: Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr. also from Georgia; Alcee L. Hastings of Florida; Donald M. Payne, Jr. of New Jersey; and Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas. This adds to a growing bipartisan list of US legislators from both houses of Congress who have intervened calling for a respecting of the results of the recount. The five Democratic supporters for this resolution serves as the latest contrast to New York Congressman and Chair of the Democratic National Caucus Hakeem Jeffries’ exhortation to US government officials to stay out of Guyana’s business during an interview with New York-based Coalition supporter, Rickford Burke. While Jeffries had said that a growing number of members of congress were increasingly “disturbed” by what he referred to as US meddling in Guyana’s politics, he has not addressed the issue since and no other member of either house of Congress has taken his position.
According to Bishop’s website, this is the second such resolution he has introduced in Congress, the first being in 1998. This would have been after Guyana’s controversial 1997 elections, which was followed by violent riots and an elections petition challenging the PPP/C victory.

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