THE long-delayed election fraud trial has officially been transferred to a new magistrate, requiring a fresh start to the proceedings.

On Friday, Acting Chief Magistrate Faith Mc Gusty announced her assumption of control over the case and scheduled a case management conference (CMC) for Wednesday, November 6, 2024 at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

The CMC is set to begin at 14:00 hours, aimed at facilitating preparations for the trial’s restart.

The reassignment of the case was necessary due to the extended medical leave of the previous presiding magistrate, Leron Daly, who has been unable to fulfil her duties due to ongoing health issues.

Originally started on July 29, 2024, the trial has faced numerous postponements and obstacles since charges were first filed in late 2020.

It was initially slated to resume on August 7, 2024, but was delayed after Magistrate Daly was granted a 30-day medical leave, which pushed the next scheduled hearing to September 17, 2024.  However, with Daly’s health issues persisting, Magistrate Mc Gusty had informed the court on that date that the trial would need to be further adjourned until November 1, 2024, for reports.

At that time, she stressed the importance of assessing whether Magistrate Daly would be fit to continue presiding over the case if her health did not improve.

Should her condition remain unchanged, Mc Gusty had indicated that there is a possibility the trial could be assigned to another magistrate.

The defendants in this case include former District Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo; former health minister under the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) government Volda Lawrence; PNC/R activist Carol Smith-Joseph; former Chief Elections Officer (CEO) at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Keith Lowenfield; former Deputy Chief Elections Officer Roxanne Myers; and GECOM employees Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, Denise Babb-Cummings, and Michelle Miller.

Collectively, they face 19 conspiracy charges related to alleged electoral fraud. All defendants have denied the charges and are currently out on bail. Their defence team comprises attorneys Nigel Hughes, Ronald Daniels, Eusi Anderson, and Darren Wade.

The prosecution includes King’s Counsel Darshan Ramdhani, attorney Latchmie Rahamat, and several state counsel from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

According to the state’s case, the accused allegedly conspired to defraud the electorate by submitting an inflated vote count for Region Four, Guyana’s largest voting district, in favour of the APNU+AFC coalition, undermining Guyana’s democratic process.

The prosecution has built its case on a substantial volume of evidence, including flash drives containing Statements of Poll (SoPs) and Statements of Recount (SoRs), 80 witness statements, and numerous official documents. Among the witnesses are high-profile individuals like Local Government Minister Sonia Parag, head of the Diaspora Unit, Rosalinda Rasul, Forensic Investigator, Rawle Nedd, and former Region Four Police Commander, Edgar Thomas.

The reportedly altered elections results, announced by Lowenfield, indicated an APNU+AFC win with 171,825 votes against the Peoples Progressive Party/Civic’s (PPP/C) 166,343.

However, a subsequent recount, overseen by a Caribbean Community (CARICOM) team and GECOM, reversed the outcome, revealing a PPP/C victory by over 15,000 votes.

The recount clearly demonstrated that the PPP/C won with 233,336 votes while the coalition received 217,920. GECOM made the decision to dismiss Lowenfield, Myers, and Mingo in August 2021, after the allegations of fraud came to light. Many welcomed this decision.