Government-nominated Commissioner of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Vincent Alexander said this afternoon, that six possible sites within the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) have been identified to house workstations, as the recount of the votes cast in the March General and Regional Elections progresses.
A team from the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF) visited the ACCC this morning at the behest of the Commission to examine the facility as the elections body explores the possibility of establishing additional workstations in a bid to speed up the recount process, which is now in its ninth day.
During a walkthrough this morning with members of the NCFT, six possible sites were identified to house these additional stations, Alexander said. He noted that the task force will have to submit a “feasibility” report before the Commission gives the go-ahead to the secretariat to proceed. That report, according to the commissioner is likely to be submitted tomorrow.
“When that report is returned, then taking into consideration security advice, and the availability of the relevant equipment, I think a decision will be made. So, I don’t see us being final on the matter before tomorrow,” he said.
Alexander said that the task force did not make any preliminary suggestions after the walkthrough. He did, however, suggest that the team notify the Commission of their decision prior to the submission of their written report so that the Commission can begin putting systems in place to facilitate the establishment of the six stations.
“Suffice to say that I – and I emphasize this given the environment in which we operate – suggested to them that once they come to a conclusion, even before they have documented their conclusion and dispatched that conclusion, that they may use that opportunity to have an oral disclosure which would allow us to do preparatory work even as we await the document,” the Commissioner said.
Asked if there is adequate staff should the greenlight be given to establish these additional stations, Alexander said that the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield “feels comfortable in this regard”.
There are currently 10 workstations where recount of the ballots cast in Regions One, Two, Three and Four is taking place.
