Georgetown: In its latest ploy to create chaos as the national vote recount winds down with just 74 boxes left to be counted on Sunday, Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield, who collects all elections materials after voting and counting ends, on Saturday evening denied he had any of the missing documents that should have been in 29 ballot boxes from the East Coast of Demerara.
The issue of the missing documents has been used by the Coalition APNU+AFC to say that the votes from those boxes cannot be validated and that was noted and written on some of the observation reports during the recount.
As a result, the Statements of Recount from those boxes have not been tabulated and the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) must decide what will happen.
The missing documents include the list of voters for each polling station. Once a person voted, a tick would have been placed on the left side of the serial number matching their name.
Another missing document from some of the boxes is what is called the counterfoil. The ballot paper came with two portions with a perforation so that when the ballot paper was torn off, a section remained; that remaining section is called the counterfoil.
However, if Lowenfield doesn’t have the documents, it would mean that they are in possession of the Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo who manipulated the tabulation of the vote count in District Four in favour of APNU+AFC.
Paul Jaisingh, one of the Deputy Returning Officers for District Four, has written to the Chair of GECOM to explain that instructions were given by one Carlyn Duncan (Clerk to the Returning Officer Mr Clairmont Mingo-District # 4) to include only unused, valid and rejected ballots in the ballot boxes.
Lowenfield Saturday night claimed a group of Deputy Returning Officers denied Mr Jaisingh’s claim. But Lowenfield did not name who they are and he also did not release what he said was a signed statement from the group of Deputy Returning Officers denying Mr Jaisingh’s claim.
Deputy Returning Officers were called to meet with GECOM but none showed up. Lowenfield said he will now try to find the Presiding Officers.
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