HOW THE PPP PLANS TO RIG THE 2011 ELECTIONS I am writing this letter to alert the International and

Guyanese public about how the PPP plans to rig the 2011 elections. I do so with the experience I gained as a PPP activist and later the Election Agent of ROAR in the 2001 elections. So unpopular is the Jagdeo/Ramotar ticket they could not face the PPP membership and they cancelled the partys congress. It stands to reason that they cannot win a free and fair election despite their racial politics. Jagdeo and Ramotar are the embodiment of Stalinism and communist hypocrisy. They will resort to any means necessary to hold on to power and they have the financial and other resources to rig the elections. In addition, and alarmingly, the PPP has the support of the drug lords. The election will not be rigged to give the PPP a simple or a two thirds majority but rather just 46% in order to win the presidency. The party can then point to the Bisram poll to justify the results. Great care will be taken not to exceed the voters list so that the international observers can be hoodwinked into declaring the election free and fair. Rigging will start with intimidation of Indo Guyanese, continue at the polling stations, and at the data processing centre. Rigging can also be facilitated through bribery. I will now outline the objective of the PPP and the rigging process. Objective of the PPP The objective of the PPP is to rig the elections just enough to secure the Presidency with as minimum fraud as possible so that claims of rigging can be countered with that of mere irregularities which will not change the election results in the hope of getting the international observers to declare the election as being free and fair. Intimidation Indo Guyanese will be subjected to the usual intimidation by the PPP. The PPP activists will contravene the laws on election day by going house to house with

the voters list and tell Indo Guyanese that the PPP will know if they voted or not. Secondly there will be PPP activists outside the place of poll with voters list and as voters turn up the PPP operatives will make a great show of marking off their names and tell them the PPP will know which ballot paper they will get and the PPP will know how they voted. The message will be clear. Yuh betta vote PPP or else! Prevention The PPP activists will be breaking the law and they must be arrested and charged. Unfortunately the policeman on duty at the polling place is usually just a rural constable who lives in the community and will be afraid to do his duty, or just turn a blind eye to the violations. Voters must be educated that no one can know how they voted. At the place of poll The concentration of traditional PPP supporters in the rural areas of Guyana gives the PPP an opportunity to rig the elections. The Presiding Officers and other polling officers are drawn from these communities. It was my experience in the 2001 elections that almost all such officials were also PPP supporters. It means then that in 2011 the PPP, using the same methodology, will control large numbers of polling stations. By the time polling is closed the place is dark and opposition scrutineers are afraid to remain in these villages. With no scrutineer around, the polling officials set to work marking votes for the PPP. If the polling list had 1000 voters but only 500 of them turned up to cast their votes, the remaining 500 ballots are marked for the PPP. So instead of the PPP getting 400 votes it ends up with 900 votes!! Care is taken not to exceed the polling place list. . The votes are then counted and a statement of poll is prepared accordingly. In 2011 attention will be paid to the actual voter turnout and ballot marking will not exceed by too wide a margin the actual voter turnout so as not to raise a red flag.

There were reports of ballot boxes being tampered with in 1997 and that certain business persons had taken control of ballot boxes on the EBD. Prevention Fraud at the place of poll can be prevented by having opposition scrutineers present from start of polling, remaining there all day, observe the counting of votes, witness the preparation of the statement of poll, signing the statement, and obtaining a copy. Ballot boxes must also be accompanied to the Regional HQ. At The Data Processing Centre at GECOM Even if opposition scrutineers had remained to observe the count of ballots and the preparation of the statement of poll the PPP can still alter the results at the data processing centre at GECOM. It was my experience in 2001 that the data processing centre was controlled by the PPP. Instead of entering the correct figures of the statement of poll, fictitious numbers favouring the PPP were entered. In this way votes for ROAR were stolen for the PPP. In 2011 the PPP operatives will try to take 12% of the Afro Guyanese votes and enter it for the PPP. Almost all the Amerindian votes will be entered for the PPP. Again care is taken not to exceed the polling place list so as not to raise a red flag. Prevention Opposition scrutineers must be allowed to actively observe the operations of the data processing centres at the regional and national levels. They must be able to examine each statement of poll and ensure that the correct figures are entered. Scrutineers must be able to photocopy the statements of poll. Opposition parties must collect the photocopied statements of poll from their scrutineers for collation with those from the polling places. Bribery The PPP literally has unlimited financial resources for the 2011 elections. It currently has some paid operatives sharing out wads of cash to youths in Linden

who are being urged to vote PPP and they will get more cash. The PPP can also resort to bribing polling officials in opposition strongholds to engage in fraud to secure votes for the PPP. Opposition scrutineers can also be bribed to comply with the rigging process. The PPP has already demonstrated its powers of persuasion when an opposition GECOM commissioner who on a Friday voted against a new registration period, changed his mind by the following Monday. It means that the PPP in effect controls GECOM. Prevention It is rather difficult to counter bribery. We just have to pray and ask God to give the elections officials the spiritual strength to overcome evil. PPP operatives, with large sums of cash, will go around before, and on election day, to try to bribe officials. The opposition parties can form special teams to track the bribers. The PPPs Defence The PPP has already prepared its defence. Jagdeo will be the point man and he will rhetorically ask, If we rigged why didnt we take a majority instead of just 46%? Jagdeo will point out that he voluntarily invited 7 international organisations to monitor the election and that if the PPP were going to rig why would he invite observers? He will also point to the Bisram poll that predicted 46% of the votes for the PPP. The PPP will also get at least one opposition commissioner to certify the elections as free and fair. Conclusion Due to the numerous cases of corruption and criminality against it the Jagdeo/Ramotar cabal cannot afford to lose power and since they cannot win the election they must rig it.

Rigging will take place at the polling stations and at the data processing centres. The PPP has already concretised its plan to rig and also its defence. It is a diabolical scheme. The PPP plans to con the international observers into declaring the elections free and fair and so gain international recognition and thus delegitimize opposition claims of rigging. When faced with protests Jagdeo/Ramotar will then use the powers of the Executive Presidency to rule by decree. It will be elected dictatorship all over again. What is very frightening is the level of involvement of drug lords in the PPP regime as depicted in USA diplomatic cables as revealed by wikileaks. Should the PPP win the 2011 elections it will be a narco dictatorship!!

Malcolm Harripaul 09-01-11