The 2020 elections fraud trial, which was slated to continue today after some 30 days, is once again adjourned as Senior Magistrate Leron Daly, who is presiding over the matter, is reportedly still unwell.
In August, the matter was adjourned to September 17, after the magistrate proceeded on 30 days sick leave.
Only two witnesses have so far testified; this includes Minister of Local Government and Regional development, Sonia Parag.
INews understands that the matter is now deferred to October 31.
Nine persons are before the court in relation to electoral fraud. They are former Returning Officer for Region Four, Clairmont Mingo; former Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield; his former Deputy, Roxanne Myers; former People’s National Congress/ Reform (PNCR) Chairperson Volda Lawrence; PNCR activist Carol Smith-Joseph; and GECOM employees Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, Michelle Miller and Denise Babb-Cummings.
They are facing 28 charges relating to electoral fraud. Among the offences these defendants are accused of committing are: misconduct while holding public office; presenting falsified documentation; and planning to manipulate Guyana’s voters by presenting an inaccurate vote total.
These charges stem from attempts to rig the 2020 General and Regional Elections in favour of the then-ruling APNU/AFC. The election report of former CEO Lowenfield claimed that the APNU/AFC coalition garnered 171,825 votes, while the PPP/C gained 166,343 votes.
How he arrived at those figures is still unknown, since the certified results from the recount exercise supervised by GECOM and a high-level team from the Caribbean Community (Caricom) pellucidly showed that the PPP/C won with 233,336 votes, while the coalition garnered 217,920.
Following the recount, PPP’s Irfaan Ali was declared President of Guyana on August 2, 2020 – some five months after the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections.
