Proposal envisions improved oversight by GECOM Commissioners

The proposals submitted by one half of the Commissioners to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) for a recount envisions a greater degree of transparency and reporting than has previously occurred during the more controversial attempts to tabulate the votes.

For one, the proposal submitted by Commissioners Sase Gunraj, Bibi Shadick and Robeson Benn, contain suggestions that Commissioners report daily to GECOM Chairperson, Retired Justice Claudette Singh, on the status of the count.
A frequent criticism has previously revolved around Singh’s absence and lack of appearances during some of the controversies over the past few weeks. Not only will the Chairperson be in daily briefings with her Commissioners, but she will also hold media briefings before, during and after the recount along with them.

“At the end of the recount exercise, the Chief Elections Officer or any such person duly authorised and designated by the Commission or the Commissioners, shall prepare a report pursuant to Section 96 and in terms of Section 99 of [the Representation of the People Act] for the benefit of the Commission which shall be the basis for the Commission to declare and publish the elections results under Section 99.”

“Chairman and Commissioners to provide a media briefing before, during and after the national recount exercise is completed and all press releases being issued by GECOM must be cleared and approved by the Commission; Chairman and Commissioners will provide periodic briefings to Diplomats and accredited observers on the progress of the national recount,” the proposal also states.

In the plan, the Commissioners laid out the resources and support that will be required for the exercise. These include checklists for the ballot boxes, Statements of Recount (SoR), tally sheets and ballot box seals.
In addition, they noted that additional equipment will have to be rented to establish additional workstations. When it comes to moving the ballot boxes from GECOM Headquarters on High and Cowan Street, Kingston, to the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, they noted that arrangements must be made for the Guyana Police Force to accompany the boxes, as well as arrangements for staff participating in the recount.

It has already been over a month of controversies and a credible winner for the 2020 General and Regional Elections is yet to be declared. GECOM and the Chairperson came in for much criticism for allowing Region Four’s (Demerara-Mahaica) Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, to make two declarations which lacked transparency and fairness. In fact, the first declaration was thrown out by the court and the second one was eventually thrown out by GECOM itself.
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo and caretaker President David Granger came together and agreed to have the Caribbean Community (Caricom) oversee the recount, in a deal brokered by Caricom Chairperson Mia Mottley.

That agreement was derailed when A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) candidate, Ulita Moore, moved to the courts and secured an injunction against the exercise. That injunction has since been discharged by the Full Court and preparations were moving ahead for that recount.

More controversy erupted last week when a draft work plan for the national recount was presented by Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield, which proposed a staggering 156 days to recount the ballots.
The proposal was immediately criticised by many including one half of the commission, the political Opposition and civil society. In its defence, the GECOM Secretariat had said that the added oversight needed to count the ballots had driven up the duration of the recount. However, Lowenfield has since returned to the drawing board to revise his plan.