2020 electoral fraud trial…
TESTIMONY in the ongoing electoral fraud trial continued on Monday at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts, with focus turning sharply to the handling of sensitive electoral documents.
Continuing testimony was Sasenarine Singh, who served as a People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) supernumerary agent during the March 2020 General and Regional Elections.
He said access to Statements of Poll (SoPs) in a key tabulation room was strictly limited to elections officials. The witness described what he observed inside the Ashmins Building at High and Hadfield streets, Georgetown.
The building served as the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Command Centre and the Office of the Returning Officer for Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica).
His evidence focused on the physical layout of the room, the movement of documents, and who had access to them.
Central to his testimony was that SoPs — the official documents used to tabulate votes — were handled exclusively by GECOM staff once brought into the tabulation area.
“Those are statements of polls packed by the GECOM officers,” Singh said, while identifying video footage he recorded at the time.
He told the court that SoPs were removed from envelopes brought in by presiding officers and placed on tables in a restricted section of the room.
According to Singh, that area was off-limits to party agents and observers.
He agreed with a suggestion by prosecutor, attorney Madana Rampersaud, that only GECOM staff went behind those tables.
“No political party, no observers went behind it. Only GECOM staff went behind it.”
He maintained that this was consistent throughout the time he was present, emphasising that his observation was based on what he personally witnessed.
The witness also described how election materials were transported and stored, noting that documents were placed into garbage bags upon arrival.
He further elaborated that the SoPs themselves were temporarily laid out on desks for processing by officials.
“The statements of polls were left on the table for the officers in front to call them,” he said.
The court also heard from Singh that the tabulation process took place in multiple rooms within the Ashmins Building, including a front room and a second tabulation room located towards the back. He distinguished between the two, noting that different activities appeared to occur in each space.
His video recordings captured scenes both inside and outside these rooms, including interactions among election officials, party representatives, and international observers.
Singh also recounted that the environment in the tabulation area was often tense, with disputes arising over the interpretation and application of electoral procedures.
“There was a heated debate that was happening at that point in time,” he said, though he repeatedly stressed that he did not participate in those exchanges and was primarily focused on documenting events.
Pressed by the attorney about specific discussions heard in the recordings, Singh was cautious in his responses, frequently stating that he could not provide context beyond what was audible.
“What I would have heard is exactly what you heard on those videos,” he said, adding at one point, “I just heard the word ‘DRO [Deputy Returning Officer].’ That’s it. No context.”
Despite attempts by defence attorney Nigel Hughes to draw him into interpreting exchanges about legal procedures, Singh resisted offering conclusions, maintaining that his role was observational rather than analytical.
“I can’t take a position on that,” he told the court when asked to interpret statements referencing “the law.”
Singh is expected to resume his testimony when the trial continues on April 24 before Acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty.
Those on trial include former Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield; former Deputy CEO 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 facing charges are former GECOM staffers Michelle Miller, Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, and Denise Babb-Cummings.
The defendants collectively face 19 charges, including conspiracy to defraud and misconduct in public office. Each has entered a plea of not guilty and was released on significant cash bail.
The prosecution, led by King’s Counsel Darshan Ramdhani, has argued that the defendants each played a “critical role” in attempts to inflate votes in favour of the then-incumbent A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition, while reducing votes for the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).
Initial results announced by Lowenfield had declared an APNU+AFC victory, with 171,825 votes against the PPP/C’s 166,343. However, after five months of litigation and a Caribbean Community (CARICOM)-supervised recount, the PPP/C was declared the winner with 233,336 votes to APNU+AFC’s 217,920, paving the way for Dr Irfaan Ali’s swearing-in as president on August 2, 2020.
The fallout from the election controversy led to the termination of Lowenfield, Myers, and Mingo’s contracts at GECOM in August 2021.
The Presidential Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the events of the 2020 General and Regional Elections 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.
