Elections results: GECOM Chair calls meeting with Commissioners ahead of declaration

Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh has called a meeting with the APNU and PPP/C GECOM Commissioners.

The News Room was reliably informed that the meeting is set to commence at 23:00 hrs Friday for the certification of the results from the September 1 general and regional elections, following a recount of votes cast in some areas of Regions Four and Five.

The Commissioners are Vincent Alexander, Charles Corbin, Desmond Trotman of the APNU and Sase Gunraj, Manoj Narayan and Clement Rohee of the PPP/C.

With the recount of Subdistrict Four of District 4 and parts of District Five complete, the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) will ascertain the election results and present his report to the Commission, as mandated by Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act.

The CEO’s role is to compile and present the results based on the declarations made by the respective Returning Officers, and to incorporate the findings of any legitimate recounts.

Once this is done, an official declaration can be made.

International and local observers have hailed the polls as free, fair, free and transparent with no major issues.

The recount of some ballots was requested by the opposition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU); the results did not change the outcome of the polls, which showed a massive victory for the governing People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C).

APNU suffered a major blow in the September 1 polls, failing to secure any regional seats and losing its status as the country’s main Opposition party.