–adjourned until September 17 for reports

IN yet another setback for the electoral fraud trial concerning Guyana’s 2020 General and Regional Elections, proceedings have been postponed until next month due to Magistrate Leron Daly’s prolonged illness.
The trial, which was set for its fourth hearing on Wednesday, August 7, at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, has faced numerous delays since commencing last week.
Unfortunately, the magistrate’s continued ill health has necessitated further postponement, with new documentation for sick leave submitted on Tuesday.

King’s Counsel Darshan Ramdhani, representing the state, confirmed that the matter has been rescheduled for September 17.
The last hearing took place on Wednesday, July 31, when Ramdhani raised concerns over excluded evidence in the case.
Magistrate Daly had adjourned the trial to August 5 to allow a thorough review of the evidence and court records.
However, due to the magistrate’s illness, the hearing was first postponed to August 7, and now further delayed.
The defendants in the case include People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R) activist Carol Smith-Joseph; former Health Minister Volda Lawrence; former Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield; former Deputy CEO Roxanne Myers; and GECOM staffers Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, Denise Babb-Cummings, and Michelle Miller.

They face 19 conspiracy charges related to alleged electoral fraud.
It is alleged that between March 2, 2020, and August 2, 2020, Lowenfield, Myers, and Mingo, while in Georgetown, conspired with the other six defendants and others to defraud the electorate by declaring a false account of the votes cast.
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.

The APNU+AFC received 171,825 votes, while the PPP/C received 166,343 votes, according to former CEO Lowenfield’s election report.
Since the trial began, it has been marked by various motions from the defence.

Attorney-at-Law Eusi Anderson has made multiple requests, including access to the original Statements of Poll (SoPs) and additional security measures for the nine defendants.
Anderson also sought permission to visit the former GECOM Command Centre, citing the necessity of these steps for a fair trial.
However, Ramdhani countered that these motions seemed like attempts to manipulate the trial’s timeline and to gain media attention.
Key witnesses have already provided testimonies, including Sonia Parag, Minister of Local Government, and Rosalind Rasul, Head of the Diaspora Unit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Rasul, who served as an election observer for the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) Guyana during the 2020 elections, is expected to continue her testimony.

The prosecution’s efforts to recall Parag to the witness stand without implicating individuals not named in the proceedings remain contentious.
Magistrate Daly indicated a ruling on this matter will be made as the trial proceeds.
During her testimony, Parag revealed that Clairmont Mingo, former Returning Officer for District Four, used spreadsheets for vote tabulation instead of adhering to the SoPs, despite Chief Justice Roxane George’s orders.
Parag recounted that on March 5, 2020, Mingo attempted to declare results based on incomplete data, leading to significant objections.
The Chief Justice issued an injunction preventing the declaration of votes without proper compliance with section 84 of the Representation of the People Act (RoPA).
Despite the injunction, Mingo continued using spreadsheets, prompting further objections from Parag and others. The testimony also highlighted the tense atmosphere at the GECOM Command Centre, with Mingo and Lawrence involved in contentious exchanges.
The prosecution contends that the defendants manipulated the election results in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), the country’s largest voting district, to favor the APNU+AFC coalition.
An official recount, conducted under the supervision of a high-level Caribbean Community (CARICOM) team, confirmed that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) had won the election by a significant margin.
Initially set to begin in early 2024, the trial has faced numerous delays due to objections and applications 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 among senior GECOM officials to divert votes to the APNU +AFC instead of safeguarding and preserving the integrity of the electoral system.
Chairman, Stanley John and commissioners — former Chancellor, Carl Singh and Senior Counsel Godfrey Smith — made those findings based on evidence from the many witnesses who had testified, along with the reports of the international observers.
“…our inquiry reveals that there were, in fact, shockingly brazen attempts by Chief Election Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, Deputy Chief Election Officer (DCEO), Roxanne Myers and Returning Officer (RO), Clairmont Mingo, to derail and corrupt the statutorily prescribed procedure for the counting, ascertaining and tabulation of votes of the March 2nd election, as well as the true declaration of the results of that election, and that they did so – to put it in unvarnished language of the ordinary man – for the purpose of stealing the election,” the commissioners said in their report.
The report found that Lowenfield blatantly made decisions and employed procedures in direct contradiction to the law and the will of the people. The findings revealed, too, that GECOM staffers ignored specific instructions from the court, used materials that were illegal and/or manipulated, and sided with APNU+AFC agents to berate observers whenever objections were raised.
After careful scrutiny, the CoI commissioners concluded that there was a conscious and deliberate – even brazen – effort to violate the provisions of section 84(1) of the Representation of the People Act (RoPA).
In so doing, certain “senior GECOM officials” abandoned all need for neutrality and impartiality, and demonstrated a bias for the APNU+AFC and, in the course of events over those days, showed an “open connection” with that party, and by their efforts sought a desired result for the coalition.
As such, the commissioners said that after consideration and analysis of the evidence, Lowenfield, Mingo and Myers “were principally responsible for clear and deliberate attempts to frustrate, obstruct and subvert the ascertainment of votes in electoral district No. 4.”