—Dr. Jagdeo says tabulation process fully transparent

UNLIKE what transpired in 2020, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is strictly adhering to the laws, People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo has said.

Dr. Jagdeo during a press conference on Thursday at Freedom House highlighted how then-Returning Officer (RO) Clairmont Mingo derailed the election laws.

“The thing is after the recount they can decide they want to go to the court, but I don’t see that as a viable option for them. It’s not like 2020 when we had the injunction to stop Mingo from declaring the results because the process is being followed now. We got that injunction because Mingo was not following the law. The law said that you had to use the SOPs as the basis on which to do the tabulation. He was using a spreadsheet,” Dr. Jagdeo explained.

In these elections, the Statements of Poll (SOPs) are made public on the GECOM website and there is full transparency.

“So, the law has been followed fully,” he said.

On Thursday, GECOM granted another request from the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) for a recount of 77 ballot boxes from Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice).

Government-nominated GECOM Commissioner, Sase Gunraj told the media on Thursday evening that the request from APNU “satisfied all the criteria necessary for a recount.”

APNU’s first request for a recount of Subdistrict Four of District Four is ongoing; it includes 391 ballot boxes, and by 18:00hrs on Thursday, only 101 were completed.

International and local observers have reported ‘free, fair’ elections in Guyana.

The Presidential Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the events of the 2020 General and Regional Elections have 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 elections, 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 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.

“This, we believe, was the ultimate goal of the CEO, the DCEO and the RO,” the Commissioners said in their report.