Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George has dismissed the application filed by APNU/AFC supporter Misenga Jones who was seeking to block GECOM from using the recount results to declare the winner of the March 2 elections.
But the CJ ruled that the only data that could be used for the declarations of the elections would have to be the recount results, which, she said, are valid.
The CJ further contended that the Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield is not a “lone ranger” and “cannot act on his own”.
Referring to the judgement of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), the CJ said the CEO is subject to the direction and control of the Elections Commission.
The CJ also decided that the declarations made by the ten Returning Officers have been side aside and overtaken by the recount results.
She said: “the declarations of the Returning Officers…have been overtaken by events whereby GECOM, in its wisdom, considered that there were difficulties that had to be addressed in order to produce, what is termed in Order 60, as a credible count”.
She made it clear that the ten declarations cannot be resurrected.
GECOM has been attempting to make a declaration of the March 2 polls based on the certified recount results which shows that the PPP/C won the elections with 233,336 votes.
But the APNU/AFC Coalition is contending that the recount results are not valid. In fact, Lowenfield has refused, on numerous occasions, to submit his final elections report using the recount figures – in direct defiance of instructions given to him by Chairwoman Justice Claudette Singh.
The latest report he submitted including the declarations of the ten Returning Officers, including the fraudulent declarations made by Returning Officer for Region Four Clairmont Mingo.
