The highly anticipated electoral fraud trial involving prominent opposition figures PNC and former senior election officials is set to continue today, Tuesday, September 17, 2024, after multiple delays. Proceedings are scheduled to begin at 9:30 AM.
The case has attracted significant national attention due to the serious charges involving allegations of vote tampering during the 2020 general and regional elections. Initially set to resume on August 7, 2024, the trial was postponed after Senior Magistrate Leron Daly took a 30-day medical leave. This delay pushed back the fourth day of hearings, initially scheduled for August 5, 2024. The trial itself began on July 29, 2024.
Those charged in the case include People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R) activist Carol Smith-Joseph, former Health Minister Volda Lawrence, former Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield, former Deputy CEO Roxanne Myers, former District Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, and GECOM employees Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, Denise Babb-Cummings, and Michelle Miller. The group faces 19 conspiracy charges related to alleged electoral fraud.
The accusations center on claims that between March 2, 2020, and August 2, 2020, Lowenfield, Myers, and Mingo conspired with others to defraud Guyanese voters by presenting a false account of the 2020 election results. Specifically, the charges allege that they inflated the vote count for Region Four, Guyana’s largest electoral district, which falsely showed an APNU+AFC victory.
Initial results reported by Lowenfield gave the APNU+AFC coalition 171,825 votes and the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) 166,343 votes. However, a recount and investigation later revealed that APNU+AFC had received 217,920 votes, while the PPP/C secured 233,336 votes, giving the PPP/C a victory margin of over 15,000 votes. The recount, overseen by GECOM and a CARICOM team, confirmed that the PPP/C had won the election.
The state’s case, led by King’s Counsel Darshan Ramdhani, presents substantial evidence, including flash drives containing certified copies of Statements of Poll (SoPs), Statements of Recount (SoRs), and 80 witness statements. The prosecution has also disclosed video interviews and key documents to the defense. High-profile witnesses such as Local Government and Regional Development Minister Sonia Parag and Diaspora Unit Head Rosalinda Rasul have already testified, alongside Forensic Investigator Rawle Nedd and former Region Four Police Commander Edgar Thomas.
The prosecution contends that Mingo and others deliberately manipulated the Region Four results to keep the APNU+AFC in power, undermining the democratic process.
Since charges were filed in late 2020, the trial has faced numerous delays, including the defense’s requests for adjournments and unforeseen issues such as Magistrate Daly’s medical leave. The defense team includes Nigel Hughes, Ronald Daniels, Eusi Anderson, and Darren Wade.
GECOM dismissed Lowenfield, Myers, and Mingo in August 2021 following the fraud allegations, but the trial has struggled to maintain momentum. Today marks the latest effort to move the case forward.