2020 election fraud trial: TCI’s Rhonda Lam testifies to vote count manipulation, flash drive, fake numbers

Presidential Candidate for The Citizen’s Initiative (TCI) political party Rhonda Lam, on Monday morning testified to a “methodical raising of votes for the APNU+AFC (A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change) and lowering of votes for the PPP/C (People’s Progressive Party/Civic)” in variation of the actual numbers on the Statement of Polls (SOPs) when the tabulation of the 2020 General and Regional Elections (GRE) for Region Four was initially tabulated on March 4, 2020 at the Ashmin’s Building. Lam also testified to having 330 verified SOPs in her possession at the time of the tabulation, and witnessing then Clerk for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Enrique Livan, who was calling out the SOP numbers, removing a flash drive from the main tabulation area, and then later returning with a flash drive. Lam made these declarations as she began her testimony as the court case into the elections fraud case before Magistrate Faith McGusty continued in Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts. “What I observed based on what [my party] had independently verified there was a methodical raising and lowering of votes. Raising in favour of the APNU+AFC and lowering was to the disadvantage of the PPP/C [then] opposition party,” Lam testified.

“There was a pattern. What we saw were increments of 10… I saw the APNU+AFC votes being raised by 10 votes, 20 votes, 30 votes sometimes as much as 50 votes and at the same time the votes for the PPPC being lowered by those same increments… Mr Livan indicated that he was tired and that is why he was making mistakes… that is when he attempted and succeeded in leaving the room with the flash drive.” Lam noted that she was able to identify the discrepancies between the voting results of what was on the SOPs and what was being called out by the GECOM officials based on the fact that she had pictures of some 330 verified SOPs at the time, over 100 of which she had verified herself.
“In my possession when I entered GECOM (Ashmin’s Building) I had just about 330 SOPS that we verified. Personally, I verified 102, the total came from the rest of the party members. I had the images on my phone and a populated spreadsheet,” Lam said. A witness for the prosecution, Lam took the stand and testified of various events occurring between 4 – 12 March, 2020, when then Returning Officer (RO) for Region Four, Clairmont Mingo, made two different attempts to declare results for Region Four with numbers later deemed fraudulent. Lam testified of the commotion that ensued when Clerk for GECOM, Enrique Livan, at the time was seen removing a flash drive from the main tabulation area and entering a side room with a computer. Lam testified that she witnessed Livan leaving the room with a flash drive and subsequently returning with a flash drive. She also testified witnessing interactions between Livan and the then Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, and other party officials noting the suspicious activity that ensued as this situation played out. “I heard a commotion and I stepped to the door and I asked [Liberty and Justice Party] Mr [Lennox] Shuman what was happening and he said they discovered Mr Livan with other agents in a back room tampering with the flash drive,” Lam said.

“Mr Lowenfield entered the room and he had some police officers with him along with Mr Livan… Mr Yearwood from ANUG (A New and United Guyana) was shouting: ‘They are attempting to rig the elections. Mr Lowenfield instructed Mr Livan to plug in the flash drive. When it opened it was at a ballot box that we had not yet reached… I observed we were at a different box when that file opened up. When we stopped, we were at a specific box on the East Bank Demerara (EBD) [but] when the file opened up it was [now] at a box on the East Coast Demerara (ECD). We had not yet gotten to that box for verification.” According to Lam the tabulation continued through to approximately 03:30hrs on March 5, 2020, at which point Lowenfield instructed the election agents and observers to return at 09:00hrs for the continuation of the tabulation. However, the tabulation would never continue as Mr Mingo would later attempt to declare a result without the completion of the tabulation. “Just about 1PM [on March 5] Mr Mingo entered the room, he spoke about his illness and when I thought that he was going to restart the verification process he started to make a declaration of results. he was standing directly in front of me,” Lam said. “I objected because we had not completed the verification and any declaration without verification would have been illegal. Mr Mingo walked out of the room without completing that attempt at a declaration… I remained in the tabulation room because I was in shock that we had results declared and we had not had the ballot boxes verified.” Those results announced by Mingo initially would have led the win to the then ruling APNU/AFC, however this proved fraudulent as it was later revealed that the elections were won by the PPP/C. Mingo’s attempt was met with swift resistance from the other political parties and the international community including the elections observers.

Methodical lowering
and raising
Following the March 5 declaration attempt and commotion, subsequent court matters saw Mingo being ordered by the Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George to display and use the SOPs in the tabulation process. The tabulation process was moved from the Ashmin’s Building to GECOM’s building to continue from March 12, 2020. Lam testified that notwithstanding the CJ’s ruling discrepancies continue to abound in the tabulation process. “Again we saw that methodical lowering and raising of votes from the SOPs that they had in their possession. For instance, there was a ballot box for Diamond Secondary School [polling station] whereby the ballot box numbers were inflated for APNU+AFC and decreased for PPPC,” Lam testified.
However, objections to the situation were struck down by Mingo instantly.
“When we started to look at the SOPs the numbers were off again… The SOPs appeared to not be original SOPs. I could see variations of the writing. I objected and asked if I could verify that indeed we were using [original] SOPs and I was told that no I could not see…. I asked Mr Mingo, he refused,” Lam noted.
“Mr [Nigel] Hinds from Change Guyana called it a farce and left. One by one the party reps left. I stayed because I wished to serve a letter of recount to Mr Mingo.”
Lam noted that once Mingo concluded his version of the tabulation, he declared the results and while she attempted to serve him her recount request document, she was unable to as he was whisked away under police security. During the afternoon session of the case, Yearwood was cross examined by Defence Attorney Nigel Hughes. Yearwood testified that in the subsequent tabulation process on March 12 Mingo was not compliant with what he was ordered to do by the court.
“He wasn’t following the Chief Justice’s instructions. I knew he wasn’t following the CJ instruction,” Yearwood noted. Testimony in the case will recommence on Tuesday and continue for the rest of the week.