Following a ruling by the Appeal Court, Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield has submitted what he claims to be a report of the “valid and credible votes” at the March 2 polls to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), showing a victory for the incumbent APNU+AFC after invalidating almost 25% of the votes cast at the March 2 polls.
It is not clear where this new figure for valid votes originates as it does not align with the numbers previously submitted by Lowenfield more than a week ago.
The recount results, which were certified by GECOM’s Secretariat, show that the PPP/C’s list of candidates has secured 233,336 votes compared to the 217,920 garnered by the incumbent APNU+AFC coalition.
The guidance referenced is the majority ruling issued yesterday that the words “more votes are cast” as per Article 177 (2) (b) of the Constitution of Guyana should be interpreted to mean “more valid votes are cast” in keeping with the definition of valid votes as outlined in Order 60 of 2020 (Recount Order).
Of the number of votes deemed valid by Lowenfield in that report the majority was cast in favour of the incumbent as the alternative count grants the coalition 125,010 votes and the PPP/C 56,628.
