–orders them to pay Attorney-General, DPP costs in the sum of $200,000
CHIEF Justice (ag) Roxane George on Friday dismissed the constitutional challenge filed by Keith Lowenfield and Roxane Myers, asserting that there was no evidence to support their claims.
The challenge centred on allegations that Section 140 (2) of the Representation of the People Act infringed their constitutional rights to a fair trial and equality before the law, as guaranteed by Articles 144 and 149 (D) of the Constitution, respectively.
These claims were made in the context of ongoing criminal proceedings related to the 2020 General and Regional Elections.
Lowenfield and Myers, along with others, are facing 28 charges of attempted electoral fraud at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, arguing that the confidentiality mandated by Section 140 (2) prevented them from accessing critical evidence necessary for their defence.
This section stipulates that “No evidence of any deliberations of the Elections Commission or communications between members of the Commission regarding its business shall be admissible in any court.”
Their defence team, led by attorneys Nigel Hughes and Iyanna Butts, sought an adjournment of the criminal proceedings to pursue the constitutional challenge, arguing the need for GECOM’s deliberations and communications as part of their defence strategy.
Despite public criticisms, the Magistrate agreed to adjourn the proceedings pending the High Court’s decision.
After reviewing written submissions from all parties, including GECOM, the Attorney-General, Anil Nandlall, S.C., and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack, the acting Chief Justice handed down her ruling on Friday.
The court concurred with the AG, DPP, and GECOM’s positions, determining that Lowenfield and Myers were “on a fishing expedition” and had “cast their net too wide.”
The ruling highlighted that there was no evidence to suggest a likely infringement of Lowenfield and Myers’ constitutional rights.
It further noted the paramount public interest in maintaining the confidentiality of GECOM’s deliberations, which outweighs any potential constitutional claims made by the applicants.
Consequently, the court found no breach of the Constitution by Section 140 (2) of the Representation of the People Act.
Additionally, the court ordered Lowenfield and Myers to pay $200,000 each in costs to the AG and DPP.
Nandlall represented himself along with Shoshanna Lall, Assistant Solicitor General; Loretta Noel, Senior Legal Adviser, and Pierre Squires, State Counsel.
The DPP’s team included Darshan Ramdhani KC, and GECOM was represented by Kurt DaSilva.
The dismissal of this challenge now clears the way for the continuation of the criminal proceedings against Lowenfield and Myers.
The substantive case which is before Magistrate Daly is set to come up on May 29, 2024.
People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R) activist Carol Smith-Joseph; former Health Minister under the APNU+AFC government, Volda Lawrence; former Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield; former Deputy CEO Roxanne Myers; former District Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo; and Guyana Election Commission (GECOM) employees Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, Denise Babb-Cummings, and Michelle Miller are accused of a number of offences.
These include misconduct in public office, uttering forged documents, and plotting to deceive the electors of Guyana by declaring a false account of votes.
Among other things, it is alleged that the defendants inflated or facilitated the inflation of results for Region Four, the country’s largest voting district, to give the APNU+AFC coalition a majority win at the March 2020 polls, when, in fact, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) had won by over 15,000 votes.
They are out on cash bail pending the determination of their matters.
The APNU+AFC received 171,825 votes, while the PPP/C received 166,343 votes, according to former CEO Lowenfield’s election report.
However, it was evident from the official findings of the recount process, which was supervised by GECOM and a high-level Caribbean Community (CARICOM) team that the coalition had received 217,920 votes, while the PPP/C had received 233,336 votes, which was enough to win.
In order to help the APNU+AFC caretaker administration stay in power, Mingo allegedly inflated the results in Region Four, the largest voting region in Guyana, as the recount process also revealed. In August 2021, GECOM made the decision to sack Lowenfield, Myers, and Mingo.
Following the filing of charges against the defendants in late 2020, there have been multiple postponements in their trial’s start date, primarily due to requests from the defence.
In April 2023, the presidential Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the events of the 2020 General and Regional Elections found that there was collusion and collaboration between senior GECOM officials to divert votes to the APNU + AFC.
