Alexander proposes by-election if wet Region One ballots can’t be used in recount

With 98 of the 99 ballot boxes recounted for District #1, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is now contemplating what action will be taken if the ballots which were found in a flooded ballot box are irretrievable.

The ballot box from Region One was found filled with water on the first day of the recount when the container was opened.

That occurred as a result of a hole in the container which caused rainwater to get into the box over the last month.

A proposition from APNU+AFC nominated Commissioner Vincent Alexander is that GECOM could resort to a by-election for those persons who cast their votes at that specific polling station on March 02, 2020. If this is agreed to by the Commission, it would mean persons from that particular polling station will have to vote again.

Alexander told reporters on Wednesday that the contents of the box, Box 1095, is at this point still not dry and recovering the contents is posing a difficulty at this time.

He said the box is opened and new methods are being employed to dry the contents before a recount is done. He said there are still concerns that the water will likely affect the visibility of ballots and other materials contained in the box.

But in the event that the ballots are not recoverable from box #1095 to the extent that they can be counted, Alexander is proposing a by – election.

He said there have been other suggestions to probably use the Statements of Poll for that single box but he believes while it is a practical approach, it runs counter to the objective of the recount exercise.

Alexander said there are no more than 200 ballots in the box.

Commissioner Sase Gunraj said that since there were no problems with the other boxes for the Region, he said using the SOP from the box to conclude the District.