THE trial in the 2020 elections fraud matter resumed on Tuesday before Acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
The court continued to examine whether videos of police interrogation involving former Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo should be admitted into evidence.
These recordings are part of the evidence the prosecution intends to rely on in the trial.
When the matter last came up on October 31, the prosecution was still presenting its case. Since then, the prosecution has closed its case, and the defence has begun leading its own.
On Tuesday, Mingo took the witness stand to testify in the voir dire.
Also expected to testify on behalf of the defence is attorney-at-law Darren Wade.
The media cannot report on a voir dire because publishing details could prejudice the fairness of the ongoing trial. Consequently, before the proceedings began, Magistrate McGusty advised reporters on the limits of what could and could not be reported.
Because the defence is objecting to the inclusion of the video evidence, the court is conducting a series of voir dire hearings—special mini-hearings held apart from the main proceedings.
Unlike the ordinary trial, a voir dire focuses solely on the specific piece of disputed evidence.
During this stage, the Magistrate temporarily pauses the main trial to hear arguments, testimony, and legal submissions about whether the evidence was lawfully obtained and whether it meets the standards required for it to be used against the accused.
After considering the arguments, the Magistrate will deliver a ruling on whether each recording is acceptable for use at trial.
The main trial will resume on Wednesday, while the voir dire is scheduled to continue when the case reconvenes on Thursday.
The ongoing trial pertains to allegations of electoral fraud stemming from the controversial March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections.
Those facing charges include former Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield; former Deputy CEO, Roxanne Myers; former Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo; former Health Minister under the previous A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) government, Volda Lawrence; and People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) member, Carol Smith-Joseph.
Also on trial are former Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) staffers Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, Denise Babb-Cummings, and Michelle Miller.
The defendants are being represented by a robust defence team.
Collectively, the defendants face 19 charges ranging from conspiracy to defraud to misconduct in public office.
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.
The prosecution, led by King’s Counsel Darshan Ramdhanie, argued that each defendant played a “critical role” in the deliberate effort to inflate votes for the APNU+AFC and reduce votes for the Peoples Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).
In the weeks that followed the contentious 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, Dr Irfaan Ali on August 2, 2020.
The recount confirmed that the PPP/C had 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.
The Presidential Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the events of the 2020 General and Regional Elections have found that there were 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 of the Judiciary, 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 Lowenfield, Myers and 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,” they 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 had 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.”