Examining the Representation of the People Act

SECTIONS of The Representation of the People Act are clear on what should take place regarding the counting of votes polled at General and Regional Elections and Guyanese must understand for themselves the guidelines to the procedure.

Section 84 (1) states that when the Returning Officer (RO) is in receipt of all necessary ballot boxes, envelopes and packets, it is the RO that must “ascertain the total votes cast in favour of each list” in the district by adding up the Statements of Polls (SOPs).

According to Section 86 (1), the RO must do this in the presence of any such other elections officers as he may appoint to assist him in the counting; members of the Commission; duly appointed candidates; counting agents and such other persons, in the RO’s opinion, which have reason to be present.

Following the counting of the SOPs, the RO must publicly declare the votes recorded for each list of candidates. Should an error be discovered on an SOP by the RO within the district, the Presiding Officer (PO) shall be informed and stipulations are given on how the said error should be corrected. Apart from this, it is only after the declaration of results in particular district by the RO that a request for a recount can be made.

Section 84 (2) states: “Where before twelve noon of the day following the declaration under subsection (1) any counting agent for the local authority area does not request the Returning Officer to conduct a final count of the votes counted by the presiding officers in the local authority area under section 93, the declaration of the votes obtained by the lists for both components of the election under subsection (1) shall be final; but where any counting agent for the local authority area seeks a final count of the votes already counted by the presiding officer in the local authority area under section 93, the Returning Officer shall count such votes in accordance with the provisions contained in the following subsection and on the basis of such recount confirm or vary the declaration of the votes recorded in the local authority area or constituencies, as the case may be, for each list of candidates under 23 subsection (1).”

According to Section 84 (3) the counting agent who requests a final count must indicate whether he requests a general or limited count and, should the latter be requested the RO for the district “shall conduct the count as requested”. Section 84 (4) states that the RO shall only review only the decisions of the PO regarding questioned and rejected ballot papers in polling places specified in the request for the final count.

“Where a limited final count is conducted, the Returning Officer shall review only the decisions of the presiding officers as regards questioned and rejected ballot papers
at the polling places specified in the request for the final count, and in such a case all ballot
papers marked “Q” by the presiding officers of those polling places and all ballot papers
rejected by then shall be examined by the Returning Officer,” Section 84 (5) indicates.
In a request for a general recount, the RO must review all used ballot papers, including rejected ballot papers, received from all polling places, and where he agrees with the decision of the PO mark the ballots as “confirmed”; where he disagrees mark as “varied” and where the “Q” and where duly appointed candidate or any counting agents in the district disagree with the RO’s judgement. All ballots marked by the RO must have his initials. There are also clear stipulations on how the counting should take place.

Upon conclusion of the final count, Chapter 89 (1) states that the votes, in the presence of such persons entitled in section 86 (1), should be sealed, the counted and rejected ballots in separate packets; verify the ballot accounts given by each PO; reseal the packets of unused and spoiled ballots; prepare a written statement as to the result of the verification and allow for it to be publicly declared and deliver the same to the Chief Elections Officer.

Section 96 (1) states that the CEO, upon calculating the total number of valid votes-based on votes counted and the information provided by ROs, shall ascertain the result of the election in accordance to the allocation of seats outlined in Section 97 and the membership of the national assembly outlined in section 98. A report should then be prepared no later than 15 days after the elections and publicly declare the results and cause the same to be published in the Gazette.