Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairperson, Justice (retired) Claudette Singh is expected to contact the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF) to request the establishment of two additional workstations to accelerate the recount of the votes cast in the March General and Regional Elections.
The recount exercise expected to be concluded in 25 days, is now in its fifteenth day of operation. As of yesterday, some 718 of the 2,339 boxes were completed. This translates to a little over 30 % of the overall number of boxes to be counted. With 10 days remaining and a little under 70% of the work left to be completed, the Commission is now pulling out all the stops. It plans to revisit its last request to the NCTF for additional stations.
The process began with 10 stations. Following discussions, the Commission decided to contact the NCTF – the authority on anti-COVID-19 issues – to conduct an assessment for additional units. Some six possible sites were identified by the Commission, but the NCTF, after its evaluation, recommended that only two be established.
There are now 12 stations operating simultaneously, but the Commission wants the process to be accelerated even further.
“Being cognizant that it is of national importance – that this recount exercise concludes as quickly as possible – it is the intention of the Chairperson to write to the National Task Force again, to seek their reconsideration for an additional two workstations. So, that correspondence, I’m sure, will be dispatched within the shortest possible time, and we hope that we can get some favourable response in this regard,” GECOM’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Yolanda Ward said this afternoon.
The PRO reported also, that the recount of ballots cast in Region One (Barima/Waini) and Region Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam) has been completed, and the tabulation of those two electoral districts will commence from 3pm tomorrow.
