Two Presiding Officers (Pos) have been summoned to meet with the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to ascertain what could have led the switching of Official Lists of Electors (OLEs) in two Polling Stations that were located on the East Bank of Demerara on elections day.
According to GECOM’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Yolanda Ward, the two polling stations, 2112 and 2124, were operating within the same polling place on Elections Day.
Today, it was discovered that the ballot box for Polling Station 2122 contained the OLE for Polling Station 2124, while the OLE for Polling Station 2122 was found in the box containing votes cast at Station 2124.
“We do not know what may have occurred there, and so, what the Commission has decided to do is to request the presence of those POs to have an investigation as to what might have caused that to happen…These are two polling stations at the same polling place…So they were not in their rightful boxes…So the Commission will call in those POs,” she said.
Ward noted that the Commission, after its investigation, can only say that it no longer requires the services of those persons if it is proven that some skullduggery occurred.
This revelation of OLE mix-up comes against the backdrop of numerous objections being raised by contesting parties, and amid allegations of electoral fraud.
Government-nominated Commissioner, Vincent Alexander said today that these allegations have not yet been deliberated upon. He noted that instances where allegations of “dead voters” and persons who would have migrated but still listed as voted, will have to be addressed by the Commission at some time in the future given the serious nature of these accusations, and their ability to affect the credibility of the electoral process.
