Official declaration of elections results not possible today; Only 6% of 2,339 polling stations processed

The official declaration of elections results will not be possible today, says Chief Election Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield.

During a media conference today at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM)’s Communication Centre in High and Hadfield Streets, Georgetown, the official said that Statements of Polls (SoPs) from various polling stations are still in the process of being uplifted and delivered to him. He has, however, assured that verification has commenced in other districts.

Meanwhile, only 139 of the 2,339 polling stations have been processed at midday today.

Table below shows the breakdown of the polling stations in the regions that were processed to date:

While the CEO said that the official results cannot be made today, he did assure that the Returning Officers (ROs) in the respective regions, will be making their declarations.

“So, my expectation – or the commission’s expectation – is that today, on E+1 (One day after the elections), Returning Officers, notwithstanding the geography of their respective districts, will be completing their verifications…And move to declare their results today,” he said.

Once those declarations are made in the districts, Lowenfield said, the law provides for a period of possible recounts. Once those recounts are completed, if there are any “material errors”, the ROs are required by law to ensure that the adjustments are made. Those declared results will be made available to the CEO, who will then do a summation of all the results from the regions and then make an official declaration of the results.

The Chairperson of GECOM, Justice (Retired) Claudette Singh, pleaded for the public to be patient. She said that the results are trickling in and are being verified.