…bent on using ‘fake’ spreadsheet instead of SOPs
…CARICOM Chair says attempts to stall process against the spirit of CJ’s ruling
More drama unfolded on Thursday at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Command Centre in Georgetown, resulting in Chairperson Justice Claudette Singh, suspending the tabulation of the Statements of Poll (SOPs) for District Four (Demerara-Mahaica), not long after it had restarted, to seek clarity on Chief Justice Roxane George’s ruling.
In a clear act of defiance, Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, started the process after 11:00 hrs as ordered by Justice George; and after initially barring Political Parties and Observers from entering the RO’s Office, a decision was then taken to allow one Observer from each Mission as well as one Political Party representative.
The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has indicated its intention to file contempt of court proceedings against Mingo, for failing to adhere to the orders handed down by Justice Roxane George.
A notice of ‘Intended Contempt of Court Proceedings’ was sent to the RO on behalf of private citizen, Reeaz Holladar, who had secured injunctions last week to block the declaration of unverified results by Mingo and the declaration of overall elections results from Monday’s polling day.
On Thursday, representatives of political parties were at odds with the Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo when he attempted to use a spreadsheet to do the count for Region Four. In a recording heard by this publication, Mingo said: “The numbers I have on the spreadsheet are the numbers I extracted from the original Statements of Poll that were issued to me…those are my Statements of Poll. Mine!”
“To arrive at these spreadsheets, I took each Statements of Poll, inputted into our computer, tabulated it and come up with these sheets for each polling station,” Mingo added.
A party representative then asked, “How can we verify what you’ve inputted those SOPs is the correct figures?”
Mingo replied by saying that “If it does not follow, then there is a course of action which is specified in the law you may follow.” Observers and party representatives continued to protest the use of the spreadsheet.
Thereafter, the GECOM Chairperson arrived and addressed the gathering where she subsequently suspended the process to seek clarity.
PPP-nominated Commissioner of GECOM Sase Gunraj in a Facebook post lashed out at the Mingo for refusing to present the SOPs to ascertain the total number of votes cast at the March 2 general and regional elections.
“The RO, Mingo, is refusing to use or present Statements of Poll to ascertain the total number of votes cast in favour of each contesting party. He is instead attempting to use a spreadsheet, which is a clear breach of the tenets of Sec 84(1) of the Representation of the People Act, Cap 3:01,” Gunraj posted on Facebook from inside the building.
Chief Justice Roxane George on Thursday ruled that GECOM had breached the Representation of the People Act when Region 4 Returning Officer (RO) Clairmont Mingo purported to make a declaration of unverified results on March 5, three days after the recently concluded General and Regional Elections.
Those results announced by Mingo essentially awarded the election win to the ruling A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) but this was met with protests from each of the other ten parties contesting the election.
The Chief Justice ruled that given the blatant breaches of the laws governing the elections and their processes, the results declared by Mingo were unlawful, and as such, have since been vacated and ruled that they are to be deemed null and void and without effect. More specifically, the Court ruled that the RO did not compile the tabulation of the majority of the SOPs in a transparent manner to ensure accountability in front of the statutorily authorised stakeholders as defined by Sec 86(1).
In handing down the ruling, Justice George ordered the Commission via its RO and staff that they would have to comply with the rulings of the court starting at 11:00h today (Thursday).
Having ruled that the declaration by Mingo was unlawful, Chief Justice George upheld that the injunctions previously granted be held in place, which means that the results will have to be determined in compliance with section 84 (1) of the Representation of the People Act.
This provision demands, among other things, that identified personnel such as observers and party counting agents be present for the process.
She noted in her ruling that the discretion would be left up to the RO and Deputy RO to decide on whether they wanted to restart the entire tabulation process for the Region Four or to continue from where it left off, meaning the remaining 458 boxes would be verified using Statement of Polls (SoPs) as was done with 421 boxes when various delays interrupted the process.
She said too, it is for the two named officials to determine the best method to be used in the tabulation including spreadsheets.
The Chief Justice, in handing down her ruling yesterday, was especially critical in her summation, when she turned to evidence provided by the RO, his Deputy and Attorney-at-Law, James Bond, a coalition candidate among others.
According to the Chief Justice, the evidence submitted “confirms the confusion that ensued with regards to tabulation and declaration of the votes for Region Four”. She did not take cognisance that the “confusion” was the result of various stratagems to delay the count and then finally to seek to announce unverified figures.
Meanwhile, Chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley, has urged GECOM to strictly adhere to Wednesday’s High Court ruling.
The CARICOM Chair led a delegation comprising of regional leaders on a two-day visit to Guyana. They arrived on Wednesday and have since met with incumbent President David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo as well small political parties and other election stakeholders.
At a press conference on Thursday, Prime Minister Mottley stressed that Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George was clear in her ruling that she expects the Returning Officer (RO) to either start anew or complete the process with respect to the adherence of Statements of Poll (SoPs).
“Any attempt to be able to stall the process, or any attempt to be able to obfuscate the process is one that runs against the spirit of the Chief Justice’s judgment,” the CARICOM Chair contended.
PM Mottley further pointed out that even though the statute puts power in the hands of the Returning Officer, that the Returning Officer will understand that he “holds in his hands, the future and stability of Guyana as we go forward.”
