FORMER Private Sector Commission (PSC) observer Christopher Nascimento took the stand on Monday in the ongoing election fraud trial, recounting a series of events surrounding the controversial tabulation of votes in Region Four following Guyana’s March 2020 general and regional elections.

Those charged with electoral fraud include People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) member Carol Smith-Joseph and former Health Minister under the former A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) government, Volda Lawrence.

Also facing charges are former Chief Election Officer (CEO) at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Keith Lowenfield; former Deputy CEO Roxanne Myers and former Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo.

Also charged are former GECOM employees Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, Denise Babb-Cummings and Michelle Miller.
Collectively, they face 19 conspiracy charges and are represented by a robust defence team.
Due to the charges arising from the same set of circumstances, the matters have been consolidated. Each defendant has pleaded not guilty to the charges and secured their release by posting significant cash bail.

Nascimento’s testimony was led by lead prosecutor Darshan Ramdhani, KC, before Acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
Nascimento, a seasoned elections observer, said that on election day he was assigned to four polling places and found the process orderly and transparent.
“I sat in, I watched… I was satisfied with the conduct of the elections,” he testified, noting he had reported his observations back to the PSC.

However, things took a dramatic turn on March 4, 2020, when he visited the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Command Centre at Ashmin’s building on High and Hadfield Streets, Georgetown.
There, he recounted observing the Region Four vote tabulation and verification process, where political party representatives and foreign diplomats—including the British and Canadian High Commissioners and United States and European Union Ambassadors—were present.

At the time, the U.S. Ambassador was Sarah-Ann Lynch; the British High Commissioner, Greg Quinn; the Canadian High Commissioner, Lilian Chatterjee and the EU Ambassador, Fernando Ponz Cantó.
Nascimento recalled that representatives from the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) began objecting to the tabulation, arguing that the figures being called did not match those on their Statements of Poll (SoPs).
“They were saying that what was being displayed [on the screen] was not a SoP,” he stated, adding that he himself was familiar with what a SoP looked like and could immediately tell that what was projected appeared to be a spreadsheet.

The witness said that a SoP is a distinct document bearing several specific features.
According to his testimony, it is clearly labelled on the left-hand side as a Statement of Poll and contains details such as the place of poll, the electoral division, and the name of the Returning Officer.
He said it also includes a list of all contesting parties, their corresponding symbols, and designated spaces where the votes for each party are recorded.

He testified that former Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield later entered the room, examined the screen, and halted the process after noting discrepancies.
“He looked at a document, then looked at what was on display and said the numbers were not matching,” Nascimento recalled.

On March 5, 2025, he related hearing Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo abruptly declare his intent to announce the election results, despite the tabulation being incomplete.
“To my astonishment, I heard Mingo start to make an announcement that he was going to declare the results of the elections,” he said.

He said he mounted the stairs and witnessed an uproar as PPP/C leaders, including now President Dr Irfaan Ali and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, vocally objected.
Mingo eventually halted his declaration, Nascimento recalled.

Further, he returned to the Ashmin’s building on March 12, 2025, where he observed Clairmont Mingo and a GECOM clerk resuming the vote count.
He stated that representatives from the PPP/C again raised objections, leading to the process being halted by GECOM Chairperson, retired Judge, Justice Claudette Singh.
“She [Justice Singh] said the Chief Justice [Roxane George, SC] had made a [decision] and she wanted time to study it,” he testified.

He said that when he returned the following day, March 13, 2025, he discovered that the tabulation had been moved to a much smaller room.
“I sat among the international diplomats,” he said, noting that Mingo made a stern announcement stating that he would not tolerate objections and banned laptops and phones.

According to him, this triggered protests—including from diplomats—prompting Mingo to reverse the ban.
Despite the resumption, Nascimento said the information being displayed remained concerning.

“What I saw on display was not what I would recognise as a SoP, it looked like a spreadsheet,” Nascimento testified.
He said PPP/C representatives continued to object to the process, while representatives from the APNU remained silent throughout the proceedings.

He said: “The clerk started to count rapidly—so fast that it was impossible for anyone to follow. That raised another round of objections. At that point, the international diplomats whom I was sitting around—one or two of

them—turned to me and said, ‘Kit, this is nonsense. We are leaving.’ They got up and left, and I left shortly after.”
According to Nascimento, the process was once again disrupted, this time by APNU representative Carol Smith-Joseph, whom he said shouted at Mingo demanding that he proceed with the count and disregard the objections being raised.

He said that her outburst prompted a response from now Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn, which quickly escalated into a heated exchange between the two.
The witness added: “I myself turned to the person and said, ‘On what authority are you interrupting these proceedings?’ She then said some not-so-nice things to me. She made some insulting remarks.”

When asked to clarify what exactly Smith-Joseph said to him, Nascimento stated that she asked, “Who the f*$k are you?”  He stated that he did not return to the Ashmin’s building after March 13, 2020.
He said he later learned that GECOM had relocated the tabulation process from the Ashmin’s building to the commission’s own office.

Nascimento has concluded his evidence-in-chief and is expected to return to court on Wednesday, when the trial resumes for further cross-examination.
It is the prosecution’s case that each defendant had a “critical role” to play in the willful endeavour to inflate votes for the APNU+AFC, and deflate votes for the PPP/C.

In the weeks that followed the March 2, 2020, vote, Guyana’s judiciary was inundated with multiple applications and appeals filed by various political actors over the electoral process.
The saga lasted five months before a national recount, led by GECOM and a delegation from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), confirmed the PPP/C’s victory and ultimately led to the swearing-in of President Ali on August 2, 2020.

The recount confirmed that the PPP/C won the elections with 233,336 votes against the APNU+AFC coalition’s 217,920.
The initial elections results, announced by former CEO Lowenfield, had claimed an APNU+AFC victory.

The APNU+AFC coalition had received 171,825 votes, while the PPP/C received 166,343 votes, according to Lowenfield’s election report.
Following the PPP/C’s return to office in August 2020, criminal charges were filed against the defendants.

GECOM made the decision to terminate the contracts of Lowenfield, Myers, and Mingo in August 2021, after the allegations of fraud came to light.