Chief Elections Officer of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Keith Lowenfield on Tuesday, submitted his final report showing a victory for the APNU+AFC to the commission’s Chair Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh.
The next step according to the Recount Order is for the declaration of results for March 2, 2020, General and Regional Elections.
The CEO stated in his submission that the tabulation reflects the valid and credible votes in accordance with Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act. He noted that the final results were guided by the ruling of the Appeal Court on Monday, which ordered that the Commission’s decision be based only by “more valid votes cast,” scrutinizing the qualitative assessment of the report and not merely the numerical tabulation.
The CEO’s report shows an APNU+AFC Coalition win with a total of 171,825 valid votes. This is a reduction of over 40,000 from the total recount. The opposition PPP follows with 166,343 votes. The joined list of A New United Guyana, the Liberty and Justice Party, and The New Movement has together some 3, 348 valid votes.
With the lead, the APNU will have a 33-seat allocation, the PPP 31, and the joined list one, making up the 65-seat legislature. The report shows a total of 344, 508 valid votes cast with an electoral quota per seat at 5,300.
Meanwhile, following the court’s ruling the PPP filed an appeal to the Caribbean Court of Justice. However, Attorney-at-law, Mayo Robertson noted that the chances of the opposition being successful at the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) is very “slim” since an appeal to the higher court is not possible.
“I don’t understand how any political party could possibly defend a position that says we want the calculation of votes to be based on any other principle than valid votes,” said Attorney Robertson appearing on the Straight Up radio programme.
