THE election fraud trial will continue on Monday, June 22, before Acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty after Police Inspector Nigel Stephens on Friday identified hundreds of certified copies of Statements of Recount (SoRs) from the March 2020 General and Regional Elections.

Stephens, who is attached to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters, returned to the witness box and identified the certified copies of the SoRs by markings and signatures he had placed on the documents during a verification exercise conducted as part of the police investigation.

The SoRs related to both the General and Regional Elections and covered several electoral districts. Following identification by the witness, the documents were tendered by the prosecution, marked as exhibits and admitted into evidence.

During his testimony, Stephens also spoke about the storage and safeguarding of the election records. He told the court that the documents were secured in two safes following the verification process. According to the witness, the records remained protected and were not tampered with while in police custody.

Stephens had previously testified that he first came into contact with the certified election records on May 29, 2021, when he visited the Supreme Court of Judicature and met with Registrar of the Supreme Court Sueanna Lovell.

He explained that he had gone to the court under instructions and informed Lovell of the purpose of his visit, after which a verification exercise commenced involving certified copies of Statements of Poll (SoPs) and SoRs linked to the 2020 elections.

Earlier in the proceedings, Stephens testified that after the documents were verified, they were collected and secured. He said neither the keys nor the combinations to the safes were shared with others and that neither he nor anyone in his presence altered or interfered with the election records.

The examination of the election documents forms part of the prosecution’s efforts to establish the authenticity and chain of custody of records being tendered as evidence in the case.

Previously, the court had reviewed certified and original copies of SoPs and SoRs in batches of 100. Those documents were tendered through Registrar Sueanna Lovell, who testified that the records had remained in her custody pursuant to an order issued by then Chief Justice Roxane George, SC.

The court previously heard that the election records were securely stored following judicial directions and that Lovell was responsible for maintaining custody of the documents.

The SoPs and SoRs are regarded as key pieces of evidence in the trial as they contain the vote counts recorded during the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections and the subsequent national recount process.

The election fraud case centres on allegations surrounding the tabulation and declaration of results from the 2020 polls, a process that led to months of political uncertainty before a final declaration was made five months after election day.

Those on trial are former Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield, former Deputy Chief Elections Officer Roxanne Myers, former Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, former Health Minister Volda Lawrence, and People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) member Carol Smith-Joseph. Also before the court are former Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) employees Michelle Miller, Shefern February, Enrique Livan, and Denise Babb-Cummings.

The accused collectively face 19 charges, including conspiracy to defraud and misconduct in public office. They have all pleaded not guilty and are currently on cash bail.

The prosecution, led by King’s Counsel Darshan Ramdhani, alleges that the defendants played key roles in efforts to inflate votes in favour of the then APNU+AFC coalition, while reducing votes cast for the PPP/C. The trial is being heard at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

Following a five-month period of litigation and a Caribbean Community (CARICOM)-supervised national recount, the PPP/C was declared  winner of the elections with 233,336 votes, compared to 217,920 votes for APNU+AFC. President, Dr Irfaan Ali was subsequently sworn into office on August 2, 2020.

The Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the elections later concluded that there had been collusion and collaboration among senior GECOM officials to divert votes to the APNU+AFC, rather than safeguard the integrity of the electoral process.