20
GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday May 5, 2015
Lowenfield says D-Day votes being sorted - responds to concerns on day’s proceedings
By Vanessa Narine VOTES cast by over 7,000 ranks of the Disciplined Services on Saturday are being sorted, according to Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, who added that the process started yesterday. The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) official, in an interview with the Guyana Chronicle, also responded to concerns raised by General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Clement Rohee yesterday at a news conference at Dr. Steve Surujbally Freedom House. Rohee noted that a list of concerns is being documented to be sent to GECOM. “Our election agent is preparing an extensive report to be sent to GECOM,” he said. Among the concerns he cited are: changes in the place of poll on polling day itself, a contention Lowenfield disagreed with and made clear that the list of all the polling stations that were used on Saturday were widely publicised. Rohee also charged ballot boxes and materials ar-
rived late at a few polling stations, another contention shot down by the Chief Elections Officer. “All our staffers were deployed from GECOM, from one location, they collected the ballot boxes and materi-
Keith Lowenfield
Mr. Clement Rohee PPP General Secretary
als and left with the various agents,” he said. The PPP General Secretary yesterday highlighted that the PPP’s agents were not provided with a ballot account, which detailed the numbers of voters registered to vote and how many did vote, among other details. Lowenfield said, “All the ballot boxes arrived at GECOM before midnight on Saturday. The ballot accounts were provided to the agents before 5:00pm yesterday (Sunday) afternoon.” The Chief Elections Officer noted that he welcomes
the documentation of the PPP’s concerns. PREPARED FOR MAY 11 Lowenfield added, “We are working assiduously to ensure that everything is in order on May 11.” Additionally, GECOM’s Chairman, Dr. Steve Surujbally, acknowledged the existence of a few minor challenges during Saturday’s voting exercise. “There were some deficiencies that we noticed,” he said, adding that all efforts are being made to ensure that the proceedings on May 11 are rolled out without similar glitches. “On the question of May 11, we are on schedule. In some instances we are ahead of schedule. The ballot boxes are already packed,” he said. On the question of Election Day preparations, the PPP General Secretary has called on GECOM to ensure that all the necessary mechanisms are in place to guard against multiple voting, unauthorised use of proxy voting, others voting for others, storming of polling stations, stuffing of ballot boxes and other fraudulent practices on voting day. “It is clear that as Elections Day draws nearer and nearer and the prospects of another PPP/C victory looms larger and larger in the elections horizon, desperation seems to get the better of the APNU+AFC (A Partnership for National Unity and the Alliance For Change),” Rohee charged. In addition to the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) and APNU+AFC, six other political parties will be contesting the May 11 General and Regional Elections.
Over 100 international observers for polling day
By Vanessa Narine
THREE international election observer groups have been in touch with the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and over 100 international observers are expected to be on the ground on May 11. GECOM’s Chairman, Dr. Steve Surujbally, told the Guyana Chronicle that over 20 observers are expected from the Organisation of American States (OAS), while approximately 60 are expected form the Carter Centre and over 20 are expected from the Commonwealth. To date the Carter Centre is expected to field the largest mission for the upcoming polls. The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the United Nations and the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), which have accepted Central Government’s invitation to act as electoral observers, are still to indicate the size of their contingents. Additionally, 10 local groups have been accredited by
GECOM as local observer groups and include the United States of America Embassy, the British High Commission, the Canadian High Commissions, the European Union (EU) country office, the Private Sector Commission (PSC), the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Blue Caps, the International Republic Institute (IRI), Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) and the Electoral Assistance Bureau (EAB). All observers, local and foreign, will be required to sign onto certain protocols before they are accredited as observers. These protocols outline the roles and functions of the observer groups. Relative to foreign observers, the missions, according to the protocol, will be expected to adhere to more than 35 guidelines. In addition to the guidelines, the rights and privileges of accredited election observer groups were also outlined in the protocol. Similar rights and guidelines apply to local observer
groups, which were detailed in a separate document seen by this newspaper. Under the Election Law (Amendment) Act No. 15 of 2000, Section 20 states that: “The Commission may approve of local organisations observing the democratic process involved in any election provided such organisations fulfill such conditions as may be stipulated by the Commission.” Both protocols, for foreign and local observer groups, state clearly that if GECOM considers that an observer group “willfully, without restraint, overtly and/or with malice aforethought breached the modus operandi and protocols” outlined by the Commission, GECOM has the authority to and may rescind/withdraw its accreditation from the individual errant observer or even from the entire observer mission. GECOM has established around 2,299 polling stations throughout the country for the May 11 General and Regional Elections.