I WAS SCARED; I HAD SLEEPLESS NIGHTS – Presiding Officer reveals horror caused by spreading of false

Guyana Chronicle, May 19 2015

PRESIDING Officer June Ann Gibbs, who operated at the St Thomas Moore Nursery School in D’Urban Street, Georgetown on Elections Day, has expressed great distress at false information being peddled mainly online aimed at tarnishing the work of GECOM, and her reputation.People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) List of Candidate member Charles Ramson Jnr alleged, last Friday, that there was collusion on the part of GECOM in tabulating votes at the recent General and Regional Elections. He added that the party’s concern is that GECOM was infiltrated, despite assurances that this was not going to happen.

The Facebook post referred to by June Ann Gibbs

Ramson went on to brandish a document with Gibbs and the APNU+AFC Leader David Granger in a bid to support his claim of infiltration; but a calm and reassuring Gibbs told the Guyana Chronicle yesterday that the photograph with the now President of Guyana was taken at a picnic on Easter Day and the suggestion that she is an APNU+AFC activist is far from true and is very disturbing. The soft-spoken teacher related that, had it not been for her profession and the many persons whom she knows and who hold her in high esteem, she would have stayed silent and let the matter die a natural death. But, she said, the claims are damaging to both her reputation and professionalism.

‘NO BEEF’ And while she holds no beef with Ramson, an attorney-at-law, the Presiding Officer contends that it would have been better if Ramson had exercised some caution, rather than choose to display her photograph with the now President of Guyana.

From the information on the Statement of Poll (SoP) for the General Election at the centre supervised by Gibbs, 165 persons voted for the APNU+AFC; 9 for the PPP/C; 2 for the Independent Party (IP) and there was 1 unmarked ballot, giving a total of 177 voters.

In the SoP for the Regional Election, 163 persons voted for the APNU+AFC; 8 for the PPP/C; 4 for the Organisation for the Victory of the People (OVP); and there were two unmarked ballots, also giving a total of 177 voters.

During the tallying up of the votes by GECOM, and following the claim by Attorney Ramson, who was supported by then Agriculture Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy, a photograph appeared on Facebook headlined “Breaking News! Grand theft Elections 2015 Guyana!!!” In the post, Gibbs appeared with Mr Granger, and ballot box number 4385, which belongs to the station supervised by Gibbs, also appeared below the photograph.

Interestingly, the figures for ballot box 4385 labelled Official PPP SoPs posted by a purported supporter of the PPP/C, showed the results only for General Election at the polling station managed by Gibbs, but they match the figures she has shown this newspaper.

However, in an opposite column captioned GECOM official SoPs, the numbers are different. It shows that some 268 persons voted for the APNU+AFC and 8 for the PPP/C.

WICKED AND MISCHIEVOUS Gibbs told this publication that she is at a loss at how the numbers in the GECOM official SOPs, as displayed in the Facebook post and by Attorney Ramson, were arrived at; but she said it was an utterly wicked and mischievous concoction, to say the least.

Following announcement of the final results of the Regional and General Elections, the PPP had called for a total recount of the votes, and later a recount of 22 ballot boxes it claimed reeked of irregularities; but GECOM Chairman Dr Steve Surujbally was not enamoured by the appeal. “… all of these 22 boxes, the PPP’s SoPs are identical with the GECOM SoPs, and what they have there as purportedly GECOM SoPs with this great difference I cannot tell you where they got them from.”

Gibbs related that the Facebook post was brought to her attention by friends, and soon after, her mobile phone went “ringing off the hook”. She said she was receiving calls from persons she does not know, in addition to her receiving a torrent of text and Whatsapp Messages.

SCARED “I was scared. I had many sleepless nights,” the Presiding Officer said. She noted that she would be more than happy if GECOM can do a recount of the votes at the polling station she managed, just to clear her name of any wrongdoing and to protect her professionalism.

The teacher pointed out that what was unfortunate was the ballots were counted in the presence of PPP/C and APNU+AFC officials, and were verified by them, and there was no objection.

The PPP/C has since claimed that the elections were rigged, and it is in the process of mounting a legal challenge to the declaration made by GECOM.

Dr Ramsammy, who also addressed the press briefing where Attorney Ramson brandished the photograph of Gibbs and Mr Granger, had said: “We have been frustrated. More than 200,000 people voted for the PPP/C and they deserve to have their votes counted…The PPP/C has more than 200,000 people that we represent and we speak for them. We want their Xs counted, period!”

Gibbs said that, as it relates to ballot box number 4385, the claim made in the Facebook post in the table under ‘GECOM official SoPs appears to be a ploy to “stir up trouble”. She is urging persons to maintain their calm and respect for others, and not be bated by mischief makers.

By Tajeram Mohabir