Guyana election recount to go ahead

Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) chairman retired Justice Claudette Singh has ordered that a national recount of the votes in Guyana’s regional and general elections should go ahead. The elections took place on March 2.

GECOM commissioner Sase Gunraj made this statement in a report on the Guyana Newsroom website. Gunraj said the results of the recount would constitute the results of the elections to be declared by GECOM.

GECOM now has to work out the process for the recount, including how it will take place, given the covid19 guidelines on social distancing.

A decision also has to be made whether to re-engage Caricom which sent a team of observers last month to oversee the recount. The team left dissatisfied with the exercise.

Gunraj said while all the commissioners seemed to be in favour of the recount, “we were moving one step forward,” and Singh decided the recount would proceed.

Gunraj said he would be advocating for the District Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo not to be involved in the process.

The recount will be done chronologically, starting with District One. There are ten electoral districts in Guyana. There was controversy over the results of District Four (Demerara-Mahaica), which overturned a lead by the opposition PPP/Civic in favour of the ruling APNU/AFC. No winner has been declared in Guyana’s elections which was held on March 2.

Both the APNU/AFC and the PPP/Civic claimed victory in the elections. As of April 2, Guyana recorded 23 cases of the covid. Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Karen Boyle on Friday said 83 people had been tested, 23 tests were positive, 59 were negative and there was one inconclusive test result.

Guyana has reported four covid19 deaths. Boyle said 34 people are in institutional quarantine, 12 in institutional isolation and 149 in home quarantine.