Counting of ballots not affected by blackouts as solar lamps, ‘backup’ systems in use

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has provided polling day staff with solar lamps so that the counting of the ballots from Monday’s General and Regional Elections can continue uninterrupted throughout the night, according to Public Relations Officer, Yolanda Ward.

Ward engaged members of the media just after the close of the polls for the September 1 elections at the media centre housed at the Regency Suites, Georgetown.

The PRO was quizzed about power outages (commonly called blackouts) and how that may affect the counting of the ballots throughout Monday night.

“We have backup systems in place to allow for that.

“All polling stations provided with solar lamps to facilitate that process,” she said.

Beyond the counting of the ballots, the process of tabulating the results from the various Statements of Poll (SOPs) must unfold. The SOPs are to be uploaded to the GECOM website as they are received for all to access.

For the officers responsible for that process – the Returning Officers and Supernumerary Officers – other backup systems are in place.

“At the offices of Returning Officers and Supernumerary Officers, backup systems are in place to allow for the backup and scanning of SOPs to take place uninterrupted,” Ward assured reporters.

GECOM, before these elections, had written the Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) for guarantees of no power outages at tabulation centres across the country. In spite of this effort, Chief Elections Officer Vishnu Persaud said recently that some generators are on standby.