The incumbent regime, the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) is maintaining that persons who were out of the jurisdiction on polling day, March 2, still voted. The party is alleging that this is just one of the many instances of electoral fraud that was supposedly perpetrated during the process.
The party recently submitted a list containing the particulars of 207 persons, who they claimed were out of the country, to the Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice (retired) Claudette Singh as “evidence”. That list was subsequently forwarded to the Commissioner of Police (COP), Leslie James, who is also the State’s Chief Immigration Officer (CIO), for his attention.
The CIO reported to the Chair that 172 of those persons were not in Guyana on or before March 2, GECOM’s Public Relations Officer (PRO) Yolanda Ward said on June 2.
But Phillips is now saying that the list lacks credibility. He said that “many” of the persons who were listed as being overseas on polling day, were in fact, in Guyana. The PM Candidate said that the Guyana Police Force (GPF), which enjoys constitutional autonomy, should not be acceding to the request of a political organisation.
But it was not the APNU+AFC that submitted the list to the CIO. This was done by the GECOM Chair.
He said, too, that persons have been coming forward to prove that they were in Guyana on March 2, casting a shadow of doubt on the CIO’s list.
Asked how many persons would have come forward thus far, the PM Candidate said that he does not have a “ballpark figure” but noted that as at yesterday, a figure was provided which indicated “about 20”. He added that “everyday people are coming forward [and] presenting information” to the party that they were in Guyana on March 2.
Phillips said that GECOM should take note of these persons coming forward. He said, too, that the COP should “reconsider” that a flawed list was submitted.
Meanwhile, APNU+AFC’s Party Agent and Campaign Manager, Joseph Harmon, said that “several” lists of “migrated voters” were submitted to GECOM for investigation and the Immigration Department has confirmed 90% of those named.
But sources at GECOM have only confirmed one such list. The PRO, Ward, said three days ago that she is only aware of one list.
Nevertheless, Harmon said that the “selective extraction of one or two persons by the PPP cannot change the fact that a vast number of persons, who were not in Guyana voted on 2nd March 2020”. He anticipates that by the end of this recount exercise, the number will be “several hundred”.
“The PPP/C is now attacking the Immigration Department, the legal body that monitors movements in and out of this country, but they are clutching straws at the wind. As i said to you before…You have a right to know what happened to your votes and why persons who were not entitled to vote voted at your elections,” he said.
