UNC: Even More Irregularities Surrounding the August 10th Elections
Today the United National Congress hosted a media conference on the numerous irregularities and recounting of ballots of the recently concluded 2020 General Elections.
Today’s press conference was undertaken as it is important for these issues to be brought to the public’s interest to protect our democracy. It is important that the population remember that the Keith Rowley administration refused to allow the presence of International Observers and now, he is refusing to present the letter of request he claimed to have sent to the Commonwealth, therefore the UNC has decided that we must take decisive actions to ensure the legitimacy of this election.
Our population must note that the process is not just about recounting of ballots but verification and authenticating the validity of the ballots.
The recount process is meant to remove all speculation for the over three hundred thousand citizens who voted for the UNC which is the constitutional right for all citizens and more so to ensure our democratic principles are kept.
During the elections, several irregularities were noticed and even more unearthed during the recounting of the ballots.
San Fernando West Candidate Sean Sobers raised again the issue of the deliberate stalling of the lines of electors causing hundreds of them to leave out of frustration. The law provides for the opportunity to request recounts of election results as the recounts and validation process are unearthing even more irregularities.
In St Joseph, there were irregular initials on the ballots, improperly sealed ballot boxes and questionable numbers of copies of poll cards among several other issues.
In Tunapuna, no specimen signature was provided and thus there was nothing to compare the signatures on the ballots to. Also, there was recounting of ballot boxes without the presence of Mr. David Nakhid or any other UNC representative. Over 25 ballot boxes were recounted without any UNC representatives.
In La Horquetta Talparo, no specimen signatures, numerous stamp related issues, a suspiciously high number of poll cards issued at the polling station, and the refusal by the EBC to allow UNC representatives access to polling station were just some of the issues raised and noted.
In the run-up to the August 10th General Elections, the UNC met with the EBC on several occasions and they were cooperative throughout the process. Now, the refusal of the EBC to facilitate reasonable requests by the UNC to ensure the process was transparent in light of these several irregularities leaves room for unchecked speculation by the public as to the motives of the EBC.
It is also important to note that all party representatives that were present at each polling station reported and raised all these matters during the process and was noted in their respective polling station diaries.
The UNC thanks the members of the public who took it upon themselves to be National Election Observers who in many instances took to social media to give their personal accounts of the irregularities they witnessed during the August 10th Election.