–as case finally moves forward

After years of delays, the high-profile 2020 electoral fraud case finally moved to trial on Monday, with the accused pleading not guilty before Acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty.

For the past four years, the case has languished before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court due to various legal challenges and changes in presiding magistrates.

However, during Monday’s hearing, Magistrate McGusty ruled that the matter will proceed as a summary trial, allowing the defendants to enter their pleas following the new trial.

Last December, Magistrate Mc Gusty granted a defence request for a de novo (a new) trial, vacating all prior rulings made by Senior Magistrate Leron Daly.

Magistrate Daly had overseen the trial, which had initially commenced on July 29, 2024, until her extended medical leave began in August 2024, necessitating the reassignment to a new magistrate.

Among those facing charges are former Region 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; People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) activist Carol Smith-Joseph; former Chief Election Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Keith Lowenfield; former Deputy Chief Election Officer Roxanne Myers; and GECOM employees Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, Denise Babb-Cummings and Michelle Miller.

The defendants are accused of several offences, including misconduct in public office, uttering forged documents, and conspiring to deceive the electorate by falsifying election results.

They are represented by a defence team that also includes attorneys Nigel Hughes, Eusi Anderson, Ronald Daniels and Darren Wade.

The state is led by Special prosecutor Darshan Ramdhani, KC and Thomas Astaphan, KC and also attorney-at-law Latchmie Rahamat and several state counsel from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

The prosecution alleges that the accused inflated or facilitated the inflation of results for Region Four—Guyana’s largest voting district—to give the APNU+AFC coalition an illegitimate victory in the March 2020 elections. Official results later confirmed that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) had won by over 15,000 votes.

Initially, former CEO Lowenfield submitted an election report claiming APNU+AFC received 171,825 votes while PPP/C secured 166,343.

However, a national recount—conducted under the supervision of GECOM and a high-level Caribbean Community (CARICOM) team—determined that APNU+AFC had actually received 217,920 votes, while PPP/C had won with 233,336 votes.

The recount process also revealed that Mingo had allegedly manipulated the Region Four results to keep the APNU+AFC caretaker administration in power.

This led to GECOM’s decision in August 2021 to terminate Lowenfield, Myers, and Mingo.

Since charges were first filed in late 2020, multiple postponements have stalled the case, primarily due to requests from the defence. The accused remain out on cash bail as the trial continues.