People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Leader, Aubrey Norton has defended the report by former Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, in which he had dumped over 115,000 votes in the 2020 General and Regional Elections without valid reasons.

He made this chilling declaration during a press conference on Friday at Congress Place, Sophia.
“In large measure, I agree unapologetically with the pronouncements of Lowenfield at the time,” he said.

The national vote recount showed a victory for the People’s Progressive Party.
On June 23,2020, the former CEO defied the instructions of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairperson, Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh to formulate a report “using the results of the recount” votes.

Lowenfield’s actions shocked both the regional and international realms since Guyana’s electoral laws states that the CEO is at all times subject to the control of the GECOM and more specifically, Section 18 of the Elections Law (Amendment) Act of 2000 specifically states that “notwithstanding anything in any written law” the officer remains subject to the “direction and control of the Commission.”

Based on official recount data, Lowenfield certified that 460,352 votes were valid in his initial report. He lowered that amount to 344, 508. That is a 115, 844 difference, which led many to ask how did he arrive at such figures.

Despite mounting criticisms, it was widely reported that Former President David Granger endorsed Lowenfield’s report.
It is important to understand that 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 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 these findings based on evidence from the many witnesses who 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.”

Against this backdrop, the COI found that the trio undoubtedly made a premature and unlawful declaration of falsified results which showed the APNU+AFC was the winner of electoral district No. 4.

Guyanese, after casting their votes on March 2, 2020, had to endure a five-month wait for the results of the elections, as they witnessed alleged unlawful acts and a slew of legal challenges.
During this time, the patience of the electorate was tested, as electors observed what were described as attempts by the then APNU+AFC administration to rip the democratic fabric of the nation with “delay tactics” which were openly criticised by Caribbean leaders and international observers.

It was only after the legal challenges and international intervention that a national recount of all votes cast was convened and the figures showed that the PPP/C had received 233,336 votes, while the APNU+AFC coalition got 217,920 votes.