By Caribbean News Global contributor
GEORGETOWN, Guyana – The PPP/C has reportedly won the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections following the national recount of the final ballot box (#4877) from Region 4 (Demerara-Mahaica) at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) on Sunday.
The recount was conducted as indicated by the party agents and observers. However, only GECOM can declare official results.
A statement for the Department of Public Information (DPI) reads:
“The APNU+AFC Coalition today again expressed concerns over the state of affairs of Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and cautioned that the elections body cannot use any “fraudulent” votes to declare “credible” results of the March 2, polls.
With the recount process coming to an end moments ago, the Coalition in a release reminded of the massive evidence of electoral fraud affecting over 84,000 votes.
“What was uncovered throughout the recount process and magnified on Thursday, June 4th, Friday, June 5th, Saturday, June 6th and Sunday, June 7th nakedly exposed the smoking gun of the obscene People’s Progressive Party illegality on the East Coast of Demerara which is ‘the nest’ in perpetrating fraud on the March 2, 2020, General and Regional Elections,” the release said.”
To this end, the Coalition said there is no option but for GECOM to reject all ballots, in all 10 districts, that cannot be validated. Not only were the elections tainted, but, according to the Coalition, electoral fraud was committed to subvert the will of the Guyanese people.
The Coalition said it now awaits to hear from the “right-thinking people of Guyana and GECOM” in that regard, since, as a result of the revelations and exposures, there can only be one legitimate conclusion following the recount process.
Turning its attention to the Lower East Coast of Demerara, the Coalition said the votes which cannot be validated there alone, amount to “tens of thousands.”
“These votes are bogus, fraudulent and cannot withstand scrutiny,” the release added.
It continued “What was uncovered in the ballot boxes from polling places on the lower East Coast Demerara provides unequivocal and incontrovertible evidence that massive and systematic electoral fraud was unleashed on March 2nd.”
It said the pattern is clear and shows where the APNU+AFC won, the documents are in the boxes, but where the PPP “won”, the documents are missing.
“Numerous sealed ballots boxes, exclusively in PPP stronghold areas, when opened, were missing all relevant documents legally required to legitimize the process, ” the Coalition stated.
Inewsguyana reported the following:
“The PPP/C gained in excess of 15,500 votes over its main rival, A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC).
https://www.inewsguyana.com/ppp-c-wins-2020-general-and-regional-elections/
The elections recount was witnessed by representatives of all the nine (9) political parties that contested the elections, observers from Caribbean Community (Caricom), the Organisation of American States (OAS) and local observers including the Private Section Commission and American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM).
On March 2, the original counting of the ballots cast had proceeded smoothly and had been completed in nine (9) regions with the PPP/C in a commanding lead.
However, the tabulation of Statements of Poll (SOP’s) was interrupted in District Four (Demerara-Mahaica) after Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo switched from the legal procedure – which ensures transparency where each SOP – that is each SOP had to be exhibited to the stakeholders present to enable comparison to their copies.
However, Mingo diverted to a procedure where the purported numbers from the SOP’s were incorporated into a consolidated spreadsheet. This led to immediate calls for transparency from both local and international observers.
After recourse to the High Court, when all the parties excepting APNU/AFC protested the sleight of hand that facilitated an inflation of the votes for that party.
Following a High Court’s decision, Mingo was ordered to revert to the prescribed procedure but he repeated his subterfuge in another guise and submitted totals that varied substantially from those of other parties and had the APNU/AFC ahead rather than the PPPC.
The Chairwoman of GECOM, retired Justice Claudette Singh agreed to a recount of the all votes, which had been proposed by caretaker President David Granger and agreed to by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo after an intervention by several Caricom leaders.
Since then both leaders have recommitted to accepting the results of the recount.
As the recount process wound down, voices from the domestic and international community – local Church leaders, the Private Sector Commission, the US State Department, Ambassadors of the US, EU, UK, Caricom, OAS have been calling for an acceptance of the recount by all the parties leading to a peaceful transition for the new government that has been chosen by the people of Guyana.
“The official declaration will be made by GECOM on or before June 16.”
