The Guyana Public Service Union’s Observer Team, which was part of the elections and the recount has released its report recommending that the elections be declared null and void because of the many irregularities uncovered throughout the process.
The GPSU in its report on the elections also said the credibility of the elections cannot be determined.
The GPSU said its observer team at the recount process observed a number of irregularities that were also witnessed by all parties present and recorded in GECOM’s observation reports as provided for by the Recount Order.
It noted that the irregularities included a number of missing statutory documents necessary for the reconciliation and validation of ballots cast, which included missing documentation such as, poll books, oaths of identity, unused ballots and counterfoils, among others.
The union believes that based on the number of anomalies that were uncovered during the recount, there might have been some collusion between polling staff at the end of voting.
“Based on the number of irregularities unearthed by the recount process witnessed by the Union’s observer team, the Union has arrived at the inescapable conclusion that the results of the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections could not be credible”, the GPSU Observer team said.
According to the GPSU Observers, the existence of the irregularities made it difficult to identify a clear winner without being able to qualitatively pinpoint, and weed out all irregular votes. Hence, even though GECOM was properly able to tabulate the votes, the extent of missing documentation and the obvious inclusion of irregular votes, made it imperative that the votes had to be sanitized, prior to the end product being determined credible.
It was also noted that in numerous instances, it was impractical to validate votes cast, due to the absence of statutory documents required for reconciliation. As an example, the observer mission reminded that there were 47 ballot boxes from the East Coast of Demerara in Region 4, that contained ballots without any of the required statutory documentation.
The GPSU Observer group said it was impossible to determine who cast those ballots or if they were validly cast!
The Union said its position is that the entire process was severely compromised and that information generated from the Recount Process could not be adequately used to declare a winner.
It belives strongly that the 2nd March elections should be negated and steps should be taken immediately to sanitize the list of electors and new elections called, as soon as possible.
“Action should also be taken to rectify all the weaknesses and discrepancies identified during the recount process, including punitive action against all defaulting Presiding Officers. This will enable the Guyanese people to have full confidence that their votes have been counted and the results are a true reflection of the legitimate democratic process”, the GPSU statement said.
The Guyana Public Service Union was an accredited local observer for the elections and has observed elections in Guyana for more than twenty years.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login