Security footage missing, computers wiped
The footage captured by cameras which were installed at the Ashmin’s
building where the office of the Region Four Returning Officer
was located during the 2020 General and Regional Elections, has
disappeared, according to GECOM CEO Vishnu Persaud
The footage captured by cameras which were installed at the Ashmin’s building where the office of the Region Four Returning Officer was located during the 2020 General and Regional Elections, has disappeared, according to GECOM CEO Vishnu Persaud

-GECOM CEO tells elections CoI

By Shamar Meusa
THE footage captured by cameras which were installed at the Ashmin’s building where the office of the Region Four Returning Officer was located during the 2020 General and Regional Elections, has disappeared.

This shocking revelation was made on Friday by Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Vishnu Persaud, who was the first witness to take the stand on the opening day of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the events surrounding the March 2, 2020 Regional and General Elections.

The Ashmin’s building located at High and Hadfield Streets, was known as GECOM’s ‘Command Centre’ during the elections period and was also the tabulation centre for Electoral District Four which housed the office of the District’s Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo.

GECOM CEO Vishnu Persaud giving his evidence to the commission (Elvin Carl Croker photo)

Persaud, who was appointed CEO in December 2021, when asked about security footage from the building during the period in question, said that he is unaware that any such footage is available.

During the protracted elections period, events occurring at that location were the subject of much controversy, particularly as they relate to the tabulation of votes for District Four.
Persaud told the commission that following his appointment, he inquired about security footage from the building and was informed that it was predecessor Keith Lowenfield, who had instructed that the cameras be installed.

“In fact, I did inquire. I was informed that the cameras that were installed in that building were on the instructions of the Chief Elections Officer… that might have been done by a private service provider. Nobody seems to know when the cameras were removed, nor where the footage might be,” he said.

The CEO went on to say that when he checked the computers that should have had the footage stored, they were already “wiped.”
Meanwhile, during his testimony, he explained in detail the various processes that form part of the elections exercise. These include those in the period leading up to the exercise and the ones that are in place for polling day and the days that follow.

Persaud assumed the role of CEO about four months after Lowenfield was booted following allegations of electoral fraud.
Aside from Lowenfield, GECOM also terminated Deputy Chief Elections Officer, Roxanne Myers and District Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo.

Myers, Mingo, Lowenfield and several others were subsequently charged with several counts of misconduct in public office. Those matters are before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.

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