The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) on Monday said that the ballot boxes of the recent general and regional elections are intact despite two containers storing some of the boxes at Coldingen, East Coast Demerara being breached.
On Sunday, the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) issued a release to the media alleging that there were three breached containers at Coldingen.
GECOM Chairman Dr Steve Surujbally
That party said it is “flabbergasted” by the ongoing efforts by certain forces to interfere with the integrity of the 2011 elections material and vital evidence should there be either a recount or even a forensic audit, which the party is advocating.
“The shocking discovery today (Sunday) that three containers, located at Coldingen, ECD which were holding ballot boxes were breached is most disturbing. The PPP/C has always maintained that it remains unopposed to a total or partial recount of the ballots given our firm view that there was orchestrated misconduct at several polling stations and divisions,” the release said.
The party added, “We view this break-in of the ballot boxes as a planned effort by certain political forces to prevent a recount given the suspicions and evidence of collusion to cheat the PPP/C of a clear parliamentary majority. We have also noticed an unprecedented feature, ie, the use of military-type planning and operations by these elements who seemed bent on frustrating and even undermining the democratic process in Guyana.”
However, GECOM is assuring that security at its storage facilities for the ballot boxes and other electoral equipment and material is tight. The materials are being stored at GECOM headquarters at High and Cowan Streets, Kingston and the Coldingen Complex.
AFC’s Leader Raphael Trotman
At approximately 14:15h on Sunday, onsite security guards doing routine checks around the containers at Coldingen discovered that the padlocks from three of the containers had been prised open. A report was made to the police and GECOM officials who arrived on the scene shortly after.
Opposition surprised
Meanwhile, the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) have indicated that they were surprised by the report of attempts to tamper with the ballot boxes secured by GECOM.
Speaking with Guyana Times International on Monday, APNU’s executive member Dr Rupert Roopnaraine said: “We were as astonished as everyone to hear that, in fact, the security had been breached; we understand that the boxes were under the control of GECOM and the police, I am sorry to hear that that security broke down and somebody could have entered.”
Dr Roopnaraine said he saw a report coming out of the ruling PPP/C that was pointing fingers at the APNU, but noted that the APNU did not have a role to play in the tampering of the ballot boxes.
APNU’s Executive Member Dr Rupert Roopnaraine
“We have said all through the post-election period that our belief is that the boxes have not slept securely themselves after the close of polls, to hear now that there have been further invasions in the boxes… of concern is not only what have been removed, but what could have been added,” he stated emphatically.
AFC’s leader Raphael Trotman expressed grave concern over reports suggesting that ballot boxes had been broken in. He told this publication that it is important that there is heightened security of boxes by the Guyana Police Force and the elections commission.
Trotman stressed that that must be done more so now that the results are being verified by political parties.
“Whether deliberately or some act of pure theft, the process continues to be jeopardised and once again GECOM is brought into sharp focus for what it is not doing and how it is not functioning, the security of the boxes should come under the police and GECOM security, both should give an account nationally and it shouldn’t be some secret report,” he said.
The AFC leader said he finds it amusing that political parties are pointing fingers at each other, rather than examining the real issue.
“The AFC finds it ridiculous… we need to be responsible, mature, and take things seriously; that is us on the political side, that is us the contesting parties, GECOM, the police force and other state institutions, but we can’t go on making ourselves the laughing stock of the Caribbean. I am aghast that these boxes could be easily gotten at, and if they could be gotten at for theft, it means they could be gotten at to interfere with the ballots in those boxes.”
