Opposition Party, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) wants the hour allotted to the tabulation of votes in the recount process to be extended.
The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), yesterday, began the tabulation process for the first time. It was decided that tabulation will be done for 90 minutes each day of the recount process.
But Opposition Candidate, Anil Nandlall, says that more time is needed.
He told media operatives this morning as Day Three of the recount process got underway: “[I]t (tabulation) did not complete or unfold as we expected. We were told that all the ballot boxes counted per day would be tabulated at the end of that day [but] that did not happen. Of the over 60 boxes that were completed in two days, just a little over 20 have been tabulated.”
Nandlall said that the tabulation system needs to improve, if GECOM really hopes to complete the process within 25 days. He said that the PPP/C will be requesting that the Commission consider increasing the time.
“We are hoping that we can get GECOM to increase the hours of the tabulation exercise. My report is that the tabulation exercise is delayed because of the dependence upon Observation Report, which I have articulated yesterday, has no relevance to the tabulation exercise. And I am told that the preparation of that exercise is a time-consuming exercise and that is what is causing some delay in the tabulation process,” Nandlall said.
He added that his party will be hoping to “iron out” this particular issue today.
The second issue that is still outstanding, the candidate said, is a summary of the issues that would have been resolved so far in the recount process.
He said that several issues were raised and subsequently resolved “satisfactorily” by all the party agents. The summary of those resolved matters, Nandlall said, was promised to the party.
The party wants the summary of resolutions so that if similar matters reoccur in the various stations, agents will have guidance on how they should be dealt with without causing kinks in the process that lead to delays.
Nandlall said that when he asked for the document, he was told that it was being prepared.
Today’s exercise, from all indications, seems to have commenced on time. Some 65 ballot boxes, out of 2,339 have been completed thus far.
