DEPUTY Chief Elections Officer (DCEO), Roxanne Myers, was on Friday released on $300,000 bail after pleading not guilty to two counts of misconduct in public office.
She appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.
Myers was represented by attorneys Nigel Hughes and Ronald Daniels, while prosecutor Teriq Mohammed of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) chambers appeared on behalf of the State.

The charges against Myers alleged that between March 4 and March14, 2020, in Georgetown, while being a public officer, that is to say the Deputy Chief Election Officer of the Guyana Elections Commission, she willfully misconduct herself together with Clairmont Mingo and others, to declare a fraudulent account of votes for the General and Regional Elections which amounted to a breach of the public’s trust in the office of the said DCEO of Guyana Elections Commission, without any reasonable excuse or justification.
She was released on a total of $300,000 bail and the case adjourned to October 23, 2020.

Opposition-nominated Commissioners, Desmond Trotman and Vincent Alexander were present in court to show support for Myers.
On October 6, Myers surrendered herself to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) after she was tipped off that the police were preparing to release a wanted bulletin for her. She had reportedly evaded investigators for over a month.
During her interrogation, she was asked 11 questions to which she replied, “I reserve my right to remain silent.” She was not granted station bail and remained in custody until her court appearance.

Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, is also before the court for alleged fraud and misconduct regarding the March 2 elections.
Additionally, District Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, was in August placed on $600,000 bail on four charges of misconduct in public office pertaining to the said elections.
The Guyana Police Force (GPF) has launched a ‘comprehensive’ investigation into all allegations of criminal misconduct in the aftermath of the 2020 elections.
With public trust in the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) significantly eroded, President Irfaan Ali recently announced that an international Commission of Inquiry (CoI) will be held to probe the weaknesses of the elections body.

President Ali maintained that an independent CoI would not be overreaching as the aim of the exercise would be to protect democracy and the will of the people.
“This is an independent CoI that goes there and looks at what took place not only on Elections Day; it has to look at everything that took place. The world wants to know what took place,” the Head of State said.

The PPP/C government took office five months after the elections were held.
“This government is the beneficiary of the will of the people. This government is here because the will of the people spoke. This government is here because the people elected this government; we are not the beneficiary of any system,” he asserted.

While the CoI will produce recommendations to fix the system, it will not interfere with the election petitions filed by the APNU+AFC.
“The CoI has nothing to do with the actions filed. The judiciary will deal with that. That’s a separate arm of government; it cannot influence the judiciary,” the President said.
During a recent regional interview, Dr. Ali stated that the CoI was necessary to ensure that the persons who attempted to obstruct democracy and the will of the people are held accountable for their actions.