Recount figures ‘should’ automatically be used to declare winner of elections – Alexander  

The total figures from the current national vote recount “should” automatically be used to declare a winner of the March 02 general and regional elections, Vincent Alexander, Commissioner of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) stated Thursday.

His comments followed that of David Patterson, agent for the APNU+AFC Coalition, who said that the controversial figures tabulated and declared by Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo “mostly” correspond with Statements of Polls in the Coalition’s possession; as such, he said this declaration and those from the other nine districts should be used to declare an overall winner of the elections.

But Alexander, who represents APNU+AFC, did not agree when he spoke with reporters.

Alexander said he doubted that the original declarations for the Ten Electoral Districts would be used.

“All things being equal, it should be automatic” that the figures from current recount would be used to make a declarations.

“I don’t see us doing that,” Alexander said when pressed about possibilities of GECOM using the original declarations and not the recount figures.

While Patterson had argued that the Coalition still wants GECOM to declare a winner based on all previous declarations made, he later contradicted himself, and said the results of the current recount is what should be considered.

“The statement of recount matter now; we want a winner to be determined.

“This exercise is not a question of comparison, it is about determining a winner and a next government,” Patterson stated.

At the end of Day Eight of the exercise, 25 boxes for the contentious District Four were counted and it shows Mingo’s declaration of APNU+AFC inflated by 1,874 votes and that for the PPP/C reduced by 262 votes .