See below a Press Statement from the three PPP/C GECOM Commissioners
On the 13th day of May, 2015, at a meeting of the Commission convened prior to the announcement of preliminary results of the said elections, the Chief Elections Officer, aforesaid, disclosed that it goes against his conscience to disclose the results in his possession, for the following reasons:
1.Variances in the data contained in the Statements of Poll within his and those in the possession of the Returning Officers of the respective Electoral Districts.
2.The number of votes cast as recorded on some of the Statements of Poll in his possession far exceeded the number of electors on the official list of electors for the corresponding division.
At the said meeting, in discussing the aforesaid discrepancies it was revealed that the layout of some of the Statements of Poll that were received by the Chief Election Officer differed from those officially issued by the Guyana Elections Commission. This view was shared by several members of the Commission who recalled observing several different Statements of Poll before they reached the Chief Elections Officer. This led to the belief by the Commission that there were fraudulent Statements of Poll which were inserted into the GECOM machinery, and were eventually used in the tabulation of the final results.
![GECOM Commissionr, Athmaram Mangal (left), former President Ramotar and Dr. Surujbally. [iNews' Photo]](https://i0.wp.com/www.inewsguyana.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/GECOM-2.jpg)
On the 14th day of May, 2015, the said Chief Elections Officer made a public announcement of the irregularities disclosed at the meeting of the previous day, including stating that the irregularities affected “many” Statements of Poll. This information was reiterated by the Chairman of the Commission, who was also present at the said Press Conference. Notwithstanding the public disclosures by the Chief Elections Officer, he proceeded to announce the preliminary results of all 2299 polling stations across the country.
On the 15th day of May, 2015, a delegation from the People’s Progressive Party/Civic met with the Commission to discuss the said irregularities and provided a sample of 22 (twenty two) Statements of Poll and requested that the corresponding ballot boxes be opened to verify the said results. The Chairman gave an undertaking to open the said 22 (twenty two) ballot boxes be opened to verify the said results. This position was later recanted at a meeting of the Commission that continued immediately after the departure of the delegation aforesaid.
We made requests of the Chief Elections Officer, pursuant to the disclosures aforesaid, for the following information:
- what steps, if any, were taken to ascertain the authenticity of and the information contained in all the Statements of Poll within his possession;
- the total number of Statements of Poll affected by the irregularities;
- what steps, if any, were taken to correct the discrepancies as aforesaid;
- the extent to which the discrepancies affected the overall results of the said elections.
Up to the 16th day of May, 2015, at a meeting of the Commission specially convened to receive, and, if appropriate, ratify the results of the said elections, the said Chief Elections Officer refused and/or neglected to provide to the Commission, the requested information. At that meeting, we were presented with the official declarations of the Returning Officers of each of the ten (10) Electoral Districts of Guyana, as well as, two (2) spreadsheets, both under the hand of Mr. Keith Lowenfield, Chief Elections Officer, containing the results of the Regional and General Elections. The results were not presented in a manual form, as is also required by law.
Upon our request, a copy of the report of the Information Technology Department, which was tasked with encoding and tabulating data contained in Statements of Poll from all of the Electoral Divisions across Guyana, was provided. The report from the Information Technology Department differed significantly from the spreadsheets presented by the Chief Elections Officer, and the Chairman withdrew the said report.
In light of the glaring inconsistencies and in the absence of satisfactory explanations of same, we were left no option but to vote against the declaration and publication of the said results by the Commission. The other 3 (three) members of the Commission, along with the Chairman, then voted in favour of the said declaration and publication of the said results.
On the 20th day of May, 2015, Sase R. Gunraj wrote, in his capacity as Commissioner, to the Chief Elections Officer requesting the following information:
- Results from each Electoral District, disaggregated by Polling Division, as compiled by the Chief Elections Officer;
- Results from each Electoral District, disaggregated by Polling Division, as compiled by the Returning Officer of each Electoral District;
- Report from the Information Technology Department, disaggregated by Polling Station;
- Photocopies and/or electronic copies of Statements of Poll of each Polling Station, as submitted to the Chief Elections Officer;
- Photocopies and/or electronic copies of Statements of Poll of each Polling Station, as submitted to the Returning Officer of each Electoral District.
On the 21st day of May, 2015, Sase Gunraj, aforesaid, received a response from the Chief Elections Officer acknowledging receipt of the correspondence and stating that he requires the consent of the Commission to release the requested information. Information similar to the which was requested was provided to the Commission, as a matter of course, after every past election.
Interestingly, no meeting of the Commission has been convened by the Chairman since the meeting of 16th May, aforesaid, in spite of the many issues that are still outstanding, regarding the conduct and outcome of the said elections.
Mohamood Shaw
Athmaram Mangar
Sase Gunraj
The PPP loss and must respect democracy. They repeat the same thing they accuse Burnham of. They do not care about the ordinary people . I was in the PPP
and my advice to all those brainwash supporters , people are murdered everday
in Guyana and PPP do not care. Think outside the box, Guyana is a multiracial
country and not for Indians alone as Bharrat Jagdeo put it. His racial politic made me ashamed as a Indo Guyanese.
Let The Three signatories and the PPP publish what they have from their sops. This can be correlated with what was published at each polling station. Stabroek news did a fine job in publishing a lot of those before the official announcement. Come on Claimants of fraud, produce publicly what you have for all to see.
We had 23 years of the Piss Poor Poppets doing nothing for all the People of Guyana, now lets work together and put the election away, its donn its O va move on and if we all do not like what the new Government is doing,kick them out. Even if the PPP won at the pools lets face the Facts, the results ate final and the world was fed up with the ppp. SHOCK and confused is the answer for the PPP,they never thought they could LOOSE. Put a big SMILE on you face and in your hearts and move on .
The proof is in the recount .Why is it they don’t want to recount AND match each sop with ballot boxes.
It looks like some have tried but attempts to sweep this all under the rug are proving futile. The truth always comes to light. Something went wrong, and the people of the Republic of Guyana deserve answers – and a fair and free, credible election.
yeah maan dem doublin hup ministas now. boomba laths.
recount our vote we nees a recount
lol. you guys really think the PPP/C won? Really? When they lost the 2011 election when the combined opposition won the majority? Come on ppl get serie
s!!!
It is indeed amazing that this discourse about rigging is taking place. What is indeed amazing is the P.P.P party is such a sore loser that they now seek to discredit the same people that helped to ensure that there is “free and fair ” elections in Guyana. It was good when the U.S , via the Carter Centre, played the role of a referee in the elections of 1992.It is now bad, based on statements by their own Minister of Agriculture, that the ABC countries and the invited international observers have declared the recently concluded elections as free and fair. Distancing the party from Ramsammy’s statements is kind of ridiculous since the whole world knows that he spoke on behalf of the P.P.P. party.
The P.P.P need to note that the only thing that saved them from being out of power in 2011 was the Guyana Constitution, which they deliberately fixed in order to avoid the installation of a coalition government after the elections.
Dr. W. Campbell
APNU and the rest of the PNC know very well that the vast majority of Guyanese do not trust them. They cannot win anything by fair means. If they want to put this thing to rest, all they have to do is a recount. However, they do not want a recount… not even for the suggest few places. They know what they have done, but it is not going to last. Momentum is now picking up. Forget about ABC, major organizations will soon give their verdicts. They rigged it, and the civilized world would not stand idle.
You are so right
I totally agree with you lets jail who responsible for putting a fraud government in power
The perceived irregularities appear to be a figment of the imagination , designed to make a case for the political party – a party noted for misrepresentation of facts, particularly true of its well indoctrinated youth arm. – Those who were not influenced by the racism and scare mongering of the PPPC’s campaign, voted solidly against bare faced corruption, sheltered by the administration whose position perhaps still remains: “There’s no shred of evidence”. At issue also was the cocaine trade , extra judicial killings of persons perceived to have only nuisance value to the stability of the ruling party, and the party’s lack of effective crime solution measures. The May 11 elections, apart from its compulsory costs, have also resulted in millions extra which tax payers have to pay because of a dictatorial decision to hold elections which necessitated campaigning during a period when it was known that inter regional exams would be held. Were it not for the cost and inconvenience to patriotic Guyanese, we could have a substitute election to satisfy the greed for wealth and power of the unpatriotic. We can be assured that only those who are benefiting from corruption, and the old guard of die hard racists will vote for the past administration, Comments being made by concerned citizens, indicate that Guyanese are all looking forward to racial harmony, and a change for the better; and will vote solidly to put an end to the excesses that they know were a feature of the last administration.
Well de real boss said every one saw everything in the entire election process from start to finish and the election free fair credible…no sweat once the big boss talke the world listens..well granger said he will show em who is boss..little that granger knew..he had a boss..granger new boss is the US big guy and when he talk you better listen up..granger boss said thing ok…but what granger boss can say is how those bogus statement of polls get in gecom mix…remember now..he said they all saw every thing from gong to gong…be he get gonged here..remember Dr Henry Lee in OJ trial when he said ” something not right here”
These three commissioners have said what they have to say. Now, could the PPP/C back up all this long talk with FIGURES? Give your totals, based upon the SoPs posted outside each polling place. Prove to the Nation that the figures from the sum of all polling place SoPs is different from what was released by GECOM. In other words, show the PEOPLE that the PPP/C got more votes. GECOM supplied their figures. YOU supply yours now.
We read what Dr. Surujballi said. We also read what Mr. Lowenfield said about the FAKE SoPs. THEY were discarded. You three were present when all this was going on at GECOM. Why did you not WITHDRAW from the process THEN, in PROTEST at the obvious FRAUD being committed in front of your eyes? Did you alert the ObSERVERS?
Did you alert the PPP/C, so that they could alert the CARTER center, at least , about your suspicions of fraud in FRONT of EVERYONE?
After all this time, you three have formulated THIS? None is so blind as those who refuses to see. You did not refuse to see. You claim that you SAW. Yet, you did not FORCEFULLY intervene, or cause other, BETTER men to intervene, there and then including your party)
We now await the response of two men of HONOUR, Dr. Surujballi and Mr. Lowenfield. … And the other three commissioners. The PPP/C tried to first discredit Dr. Surujbally. Now, you three come out with this. We are now supposed to believe that Dr. Surujbally colluded with the three other commissioners to RIG the polls.
We await the response of Dr. Surujbally and the three MUSKETEERS. The three STOOGES have had their say. The observers spoke already. ( please disclose who printed the fakes.. and where .. i bet you guys know who and why .. Wink! wink!)
File the petition fired those involved re count the votes n let the world know the facts. N jail those responsible to install a fraud government
All a dem is boomba clath thieves.
I don’t care if inews don’t want to post my comments anymore but right is right and wrong is wrong. You can’t expect to do wrong and not expect people to angry. Facebook is blowing up with racial comments so all of you who thinks my comments are bad go there. This election was rigged and the world knows. The ABC countries and in the middle of all this and nobody seems to care. Too latesshall be the cry.
Looks like the Despot Forbes Burnham is not alone. He now have strong competition.
Something is seriously wrong.. As a Guyanese who is keeping a keen eye on the post Election development , the revelations by the three GECOM commissioners is very troubling .and I am now getting to understand why the new Government may not be interested in a recount. But GECOM owe it to the Nation to do so. It is clear that manipulation by certain GECOM staffers facilitated an APNU/AFC so called victory . The issue is what is Moses and Kemraj view on this… Indeed something is seriously wrong.!!!!