Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George has ruled that the declaration of the unverified results for Region Four (Demerara Mahaica) by the Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo was unlawful as it was in breach of Section 84 (1) of the Representation of the People Act.
She also ruled that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) cannot lawfully declare the results of the 2020 General and Regional Elections until the Returning Officer complies with the provisions of Section 84 (1) of the Representation of the People Act.
According to the Chief Justice, the declaration made by the Returning Officer is null, void and has no effect.
She ordered the Returning Officer or Deputy Returning Officer to commence compliance no later than 11:00hrs tomorrow, March 12, 2020.
She also ordered that the Returning Officer or Deputy Returning Officer decide on whether the verification process will be restarted or resumed.
The Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) had approached to courts and successfully secured injunctions to block Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo from declaring unverified results of Region Four after the statutory verification process was not being adhered to.
An injunction was also obtained to halt the declaration of final results of last Monday’s poll.
After ruling on Sunday that the High Court has jurisdiction to hear the matter, the Chief Justice on Tuesday afternoon heard arguments from lawyers for both sides on the substantive issue of whether the count of the votes in Region Four was validly tabulated from the Statements of Poll (SOPs) and whether it was done in the presence of legislatively stipulated stakeholders.
