Four years after the 2020 General and Regional Elections, the trial into alleged electoral fraud by former officials of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is set to begin on Monday, July 29, 2024 at the Georgetown Magistrates Court.
During his weekly programme ‘Issues in the News’, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall revealed that the trial will be conducted “on a day-to-day basis until Friday, September 13.”
“We are expected to have about six weeks of continuous trial days,” he added.
The trial previously commenced at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court before Magistrate Leron Daly but was placed on hold after two of the defendants; former Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield and former Deputy Chief Elections Officer Roxanne Myers, filed a case in the High Court challenging the proceedings. They argued that Section 140 (2) of the Representation of the People Act breached their right to a fair trial, as guaranteed by Article 144, and their right to equality before the law, as guaranteed by Article 149 (D) of the Constitution.
The former GECOM officials had claimed in their challenge that Section 140 (2) of ROPA states that: “No evidence of any deliberations of the Elections Commission or communications between members of the Commission regarding its business shall be admissible in any court.” The challenge followed attempts by the duo’s lawyer to access minutes from GECOM’s meeting which was hindered by the law.
However, the trial was cleared to move ahead following a ruling by Chief Justice Roxane George that there was no ground established that shows that Section 140 (2) of the Representation of the People Act breached any provisions of the Constitution. Further, it was noted that the public interest in ensuring that GECOM’s deliberations remain confidential overrides whatever constitutional rights Lowenfield and Myers enjoy.
Lowenfield and Myers along with former District Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, former People’s National Congress/Reform (PNCR) Chairperson Volda Lawrence, PNCR activist Carol Smith-Joseph, and GECOM employees Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, Denise Babb-Cummings and Michelle Miller, are facing twenty-eight 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 stemmed from attempts to rig the 2020 General and Regional Elections in favour of the then-ruling APNU/AFC. These accused persons are all out on cash bail.
These offences stemmed from acts committed to derail the announcement of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) as the winner of the 2020 elections by altering the numbers of votes received by each party in the final district – Region Four.
Following several litigations and a full recount of the election results, PPP’s Irfaan Ali was declared President of Guyana on August 2, 2020, a full five months after the March 2, 2020, General and Regional Elections.
Some of the witnesses expected to testify in the upcoming trial include Minister of Local Government Sonia Parag, Head of the Diaspora Unit Rosalinda Rasul, former Region Four Police Commander Edgar Thomas, and Forensic Investigator Rawle Nedd.
