– calls for Lowenfield to be suspended, investigated

THE Private Sector Commission (PSC), on Wednesday said it was appalled by the report of Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield, which was submitted to the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh using only “valid votes” cast at the General and Regional Elections.

Though the CEO said that he acted on the guidance of the Court of Appeal, the PSC views the report as a “direct defiance” to the direction given by GECOM Chair, Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh on June 16, in which, he (the CEO) was instructed to submit a report using the results of the recount.

The PSC contended: “The Court of Appeal has, in fact, given no such guidance nor has it given direction to the chief elections officer. Mr. Lowenfield had also presumed to act on a decision of the Court of Appeal which had been stayed and [is] of no effect.”
It pointed out that the CEO’s report seeks to disenfranchise some 115,844 or 25 per cent of the persons who legitimately cast their votes on March 2, 2020. The PSC therefore termed the report as “fraudulent” and a “criminal attempt” of the CEO to manipulate the elections results.

BASIS OF REPORT
The Court of Appeal on Monday in establishing jurisdiction to adjudicate solely on the interpretation of the Constitution, ordered that the words “more votes are cast” be interpreted to mean “more valid votes are cast” in relation to the General and Regional Elections. The court had taken into consideration Order No. 60, which was used by GECOM to facilitate a national recount in its quest to determine “a final credible count.”
It was on that basis that Lowenfield submitted his elections report to the elections commission using only valid votes cast.

“I have taken note of the guidance of the Court of Appeal in Eslyn David v Chief Elections Officer et al in the preparation of my report under Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act and providing advice as required by Article 177 (2) (b) of the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana,” Lowenfield said in his report to Justice Singh.

Even so, the PSC stated: “The Private Sector Commission condemns in the strongest possible terms this most recent act of Mr. Lowenfield, which we believe to be tantamount to criminal malfeasance. The Private Sector Commission urges upon GECOM immediate action to suspend the chief elections officer from any further participation in the election process until such time as a full and independent investigation can be held into his conduct.”