GECOM turns over recount decisions to Nagamootoo

Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Retired Justice Claudette Singh on Friday communicated to Commissioners that there should be no more than 10 work stations for the recount of the ballots cast countrywide during the March 2, General and Regional Elections.

The missive from Justice Singh noted that the dictate of no more than 10 working stations would be “subject to the availability of the requisite equipment and technology to display the ballots.”

However, the Opposition – People’s Progressive Party/Civic – had proposed 20 work stations, which will take 10 days to complete the entire process.
Gunraj, along with fellow Commissioners Bibi Shadick and Robeson Benn, had submitted a recount proposal to counter the one for a 156-day recount which was previously submitted by GECOM Chief Election Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield.

According to their proposal, which caters for a 10-day recount using 20 work stations, their expectation is that those entitled to be there under Section 86 of the Representation of the People Act Cap 1:03 will be catered for. Such persons include party agents and observers.
The plan specifies that each tabulation work station shall be comprised of authorised GECOM staff, as well as representatives from each of the contesting political parties and accredited observers, with the original Statement of Recount (SoR) being used to tabulate.

Government-aligned Commissioner Vincent Alexander, who had proposed the use of eight counting stations had told media operatives that if conducted the way he envisages, two hours allocated for the recount of a box would see the exercise lasting 64 days.

He said if that time was reduced by 30 minutes it would result in the duration of the exercise taking 48 days and should one hour be allocated for the recount of each box then the exercise would last 32 days. There are 2399 ballot boxes.
Media operatives were told on Thursday that the Chairperson had adjourned the meeting with a promise to make a decision on the range of proposals on the table including the 20-work station proposal by People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Commissioner Sase Gunraj.
Retired Justice Singh in her communication on Friday, however, did not indicate a duration for the exercise, a date for an official commencement or the amount of time that would be allocated for the recount of each of the ballot boxes.

Waiting on caretaker PM
The GECOM Chairperson indicated that each of the work stations to be used at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre should tabulate its own results and that for security reasons, all the work stations should be located inside the Conference Centre building.

Additionally, the GECOM Chairperson advised that she has written to the caretaker Prime Minister/Chairman of the National COVID-19 Task Force with some specific requests.
According to Justice Singh, “he has since indicated that an urgent meeting of the Task Force would be convened to discuss same and a response would be provided shortly.”

Month-end deadline
During a site visit to the Arthur Chung Conference Centre on Wednesday, Singh expressed the view that the recount can be completed before the deadline – which incidentally is April 30, since Parliament was dissolved on December 30, 2019.

“Of course, it would. Once it starts, it would be finished,” the Chairperson, a retired Judge, said. According to her, she does not envision a constitutional crisis if the recount exceeds the four-month deadline.

Warning
The new position adumbrated by the GECOM Chair comes on the heels of a warning by the local legal fraternity that Article 69 of the Constitution of Guyana mandates that, on dissolution, the next session of Parliament must commence no later than four (4) months from the end of the preceding session.
The last session of Parliament was dissolved on December 30, 2019, meaning the next session of Parliament must, therefore, begin no later than April 30, 2020.

As such, the Bar reminded that “Guyana is a parliamentary democracy based on the rule of law” and “the absence of parliamentary oversight of those who purport to exercise executive powers, whether de facto or de jure, is of grave concern as it places the rule of law under siege.”
The legal fraternity noted in its missive that effect can only be given to the provisions of the Constitution for Parliament to be summoned by the constitutionally mandated timeline if GECOM and its Secretariat act immediately in a manner evincing transparency, impartiality and fairness.

According to the Bar Association “The Constitution of Guyana is the supreme law of Guyana to which all persons and bodies are subject. Timelines laid down by the Constitution are not merely matters of principle which one can simply choose to abide by or ignore. The failure to abide by the Constitution has far-reaching consequences, both nationally and internationally, inter alia for good governance and the rule of law.
It has now been more than six weeks since the March 2, General and Regional Elections with the nation no closer to having a declared result.

Criticisms of Retired Justice Singh’s pronouncement on Friday has since left many with more questions than answers with at least one analyst saying “the real danger of the entire email is what she did not say.”
It was observed that she did not say how many hours per day she proposes for the recount teams to work; she did not say the average time it would take to count the valid votes in a box.

The analyst said too that the GECOM Chairperson notably did not say when the recount is to begin; she did not say what methodology she plans to use to achieve a successful recount or when she shall gazette the official order.