The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is to provide the political parties thatGECOM is to provide the political parties that contested the recent general elections with scanned copies of Statements of Pollcontested the recent general elections with scanned copies of Statements of Poll (SoPs).GECOM is also to provide similar copies to the Electoral Assistance Bureau (EAB) and the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU).A GECOM press statement issued yesterday said that the decision to release the SoPs was made during a meeting on Monday between GECOM Chairman Dr. Steve Surujbally and a nine-member team of representatives from the Private Sector Commission (PSC).The PSC team was headed by its Chairman,Cheap Hockey Jerseys From China, Mr. Ramesh Dookhoo.According to GECOM, the Meeting was held at the behest of the PSC to get clarity on the concerns of A Partnership for National Unity (A.P.N.U.). Foremost among the issues discussed at the Meeting were:-•Delays in the tabulation and release of election results.•Calls for verification of Statements of Poll (SoPs) particularly in District 4.•Calls by A Partnership for National Unity (A.P.N.U.) and the Electoral Assistance Bureau (EAB) for copies of the SoPs•Discarded ballot box seals publicly displayed by APNU.•Non-issuance of Certificates of Employment not issued to Party Agents.The statement continued: “It was reiterated that, what might have seemed to be tardiness in the tabulation and declaration of the results of the Elections was in fact representative of the caution and care that was being taken towards guaranteeing accuracy. The Chairman had repeatedly emphasized that accuracy and correctness were of paramount importance, notwithstanding any anomaly which could later emerge.“In passing, the Chairman reminded that legally, GECOM had up to fifteen days to declare the results of the Elections. The results of the 2011 General and Regional Elections were declared on afternoon of Thursday, December 1, 2011, whereas the results of the 2006 Elections were declared on the night of Thursday, August 31, 2006 i.e. in both cases three days after the Elections’ with the 2011 Elections having been done several hours earlier. The declaration of the 2011 General and Regional Elections were, therefore, the earliest in the last five Elections.”According to the GECOM statement, the PSC was given the assurance that the tabulation of the results of the elections was done on the basis of the SoPs from the respective Polling Stations, which were certified by the Presiding Officers and Party Agents who participated in the counting of the Ballots.It added that the SoPs were further checked by the respective Deputy Returning Officers and Returning Officers in that order for accuracy before being forwarded to the Chief Election Officer where it is checked again for correctness.“The Chairman emphasized that for the statement of polls (SoPs) for any polling stations to have been compromised would have required complete collusion between the GECOM polling day staff and the various Party Agents and Observers present at the counting of the poll. It was further emphasized that the entire process from the point of counting at the Polling Stations up to the point of compilation at the Command Centre of the GECOM Secretariat was constantly overseen by Party Agents, Local and International Observers.”According to the release, the PSC Team was given the assurance that the discarded red Ballot Box seals publicly displayed by APNU “were actually those seals that were cut and removed from the Ballot Boxes immediately prior to the commencement of the voting on Election Day.”It said that these seals were placed on the Ballot Boxes, in the presence of Party Agents and Local and Foreign Observers before they were transported (under Police escort) from GECOM to the Polling Stations.“The seals publicly displayed by APNU are in no way, shape or form linked to the integrity of the ballots cast by the electorate. The International Independent Technical Assessor who was present at the Meeting pointed out that the seals in question reflected the function of security of the Ballot Boxes prior to the opening of the Ballot Boxes for the commencement of voting.“The seals were removed from the Ballot Boxes at the opening of the Ballot Boxes and were discarded It was emphasized that, at the end of the poll, in addition to the five seals placed on the Ballot Boxes, each Party Agent present further placed security tapes on the Ballot Boxes.”At the meeting, the PSC team was informed that there is no legal provision for Certificates of Employment to be issued to Party Agents for them to vote at the respective Polling Stations where they were assigned by their Parties to work on Election Day.“However, Candidates of the Political parties could have substituted for each Party Agent during Election Day in order that they could go to the respective Polling Stations where they were listed to cast their ballots. In fact,Air Max 90 Baratas Online, it does however appear that some Party Agents found it not possible to vote.”“The Chairman said that it is true that some over-zealous Returning Officers had issued a number of Certificate of Employment unbeknownst to the Chief Election Officer, Deputy Chief Election Officer and Assistant Chief Election Officer. As soon as this was discovered, the Certificates of Employment were withdrawn.”The release also said that the PSC was informed that there is no legal requirement for GECOM to give any external agency, including Political Parties and Observers, copies of SoPs. Nonetheless, the Chairman undertook to provide scanned copies of all of the SoPs on DVD to the Political Parties which contested the elections and to the Electoral Assistance Bureau (EAB) and the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU).“At the conclusion of the meeting, the PSC Team thanked the Chairman of GECOM and his Senior Management Team for the meeting and expressed their appreciation to the Chairman for his consenting to provide scanned copies of all of the SoPs to the political Parties which contested the elections, the EAB and the GPSU.”The PSC team comprised Mr. Komal Ramnauth, Mr. Gerry Gouveia, Mr. Christopher Nascimento, Mr. Michael Corriea, Mr. Eon Caesar,Camiseta Atletico De Madrid Ni?o, Mr. Clinton Williams, Mr. John Willems and Ms. Elizabeth Alleyne.The GECOM team included Mr. G. Boodoo, Chief Election Officer, Mr. C. Benn – Deputy Chief Election Officer, Mr. K. Lowenfield – Assistant Chief Election Officer, Mr. D. Ramlall – C&VEM,Bvb Neues Trikot 18/19, Mrs. B. Critchlow – VRM, Mr. J. Eastman – Chief Accountant, Ms. M. Bynoe – Administrative Manager, Mr. A. Chung – Systems Analyst/IT Administrator, Mr. C. April – Logistics Manager, Mr. Bruce Hatch – International Technical Assessor,Camiseta Atletico De Madrid 2018, Ms. I. Anandjit – Human Resources Manager, Mr. H. Chester – Chief Security Officer,Discount NFL Jerseys, Mr. G. Latchminarine – Internal Auditor, Ms. J. Barker-Archibald – Legal Assistant, and Mr. V. Persaud – Public Relations Officer.The APNU has been calling on GECOM to address what they claimed to be several discrepancies regarding the elections.These included the alleged manipulation of votes,Wholesale Authentic Jerseys, missing statements of poll, multiple voting, giving legitimate voters tendered ballots to vote on Election Day and what they claimed were tyrannical tactics by PPPC supporters and candidates on Election Day.APNU has also complained that the integrity of some ballot boxes has been called into question, particularly in the wake of the discovery of a number of broken ballot-box seals.On Monday night, a number of APNU supporters held a candlelight vigil outside of Dr. Surujbally’s home to bring attention to these issues.