Georgetown: On the eight day of the national recount of ballot boxes on Wednesday, 56 boxes were recounted bringing the total to 367 as region one is expected to be completed Thursday opening the commencement of recount for Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice).
Region One has a total 99 ballot boxes and six remains for its completion. There are 158 boxes to be counted for Region Five.
Counting stations supervisors were able to recount 15 boxes for region one, eleven for region two, fifteen for region three and fifteen for region four.
GECOM said the COVID-19 Task Force is expected to inspect the venue for the recount, Arthur Chung Conference Centre, to ascertain whether commission can establish another five counting stations as part of overall efforts fast-track the recount of the more than 400,000 votes contained in the 2,339 ballot boxes.
Meanwhile, PPP GECOM nominated Commissioner Sase Gunraj said a decision to move ahead with additional stations in the ongoing recount exercise by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) hangs in the balance as the national electoral body awaits permission from the National COVID-19 Task Force.
He said the Commission is ready to put in place new counting stations so that the recount process can move faster but those intentions are being stalled by the Task Force.
Gunraj said that GECOM was expecting members of the “highly political” Task Force to visit the Arthur Chung Conference Center to scope the premises and decide whether additional stations can be added in compliance with existing restrictions.
He said his suspicions of the Task Force were borne out when GECOM was informed by the Task Force, which is headed by high ranking members of the incumbent, that it was otherwise engaged.
“We have a Task Force that is comprised of people seeking office from the process and their presence there can affect any objective consideration of issues,” he added.
Gunraj said the delay in the visit from the Task Force has also led to other delays with several meeting slated to be held after.
However, he remains hopeful even though the Task Force’s previous actions and recommendations in the recount process remain questionable.
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