2020 General & Regional elections: “Shockingly brazen attempts… to steal” elections by CEO, DCEO, Region 4 RO – CoI report reveals

…urges change to GECOM machinery, campaign financing laws

The final report of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the events of the 2020 General and Regional Elections was on Wednesday handed over to President Dr Irfaan Ali.

The findings of the report all point to brazen attempts to derail the elections, shining a spotlight on the actions of Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) staff themselves.
During the handover ceremony at his office, President Dr Irfaan Ali spoke of the importance of the report. According to the President, the results of the March 2020 General and Regional elections had implications for the welfare of citizens and the country.
“Free and fair elections are the lifeblood of democracy. Therefore, they must be zealously guarded and protected. Therefore, any circumstance or event which could have led or did lead to affecting the declaration of the results of the elections, had implications for democracy and for the welfare of citizens. It was thus deemed imperative that there be enquiry into the circumstances and events that followed the holding of elections on March 2, 2020,” Ali said.
But what did those enquiries reveal? According to the report, there were brazen attempts by senior GECOM staff to derail the elections. The report named former Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield, his former deputy Roxanne Myers and former Returning Officer for Region Four Clairmont Mingo.
“After careful consideration and analysis of the evidence before us, it is our considered view that CEO Mr. Keith Lowenfield, DCEO Ms. Roxanne Myers and RO Mr. Clairmont Mingo were principally responsible for clear and deliberate attempts to frustrate, obstruct and subvert the ascertainment of votes in electoral district No. 4.,” the COI report states.

Lowenfield
According to the report, the CEO’s overall conduct called into question his impartiality during the tabulation process and apparent efforts to steer the tabulation in A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change’s (APNU/AFC) favor and away from the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).
It noted that Lowenfield met with international observers and party agents and had assured them that the Statements of Poll (SOP’s) in GECOM’s possession, would be used to compare with those in the possession of party agents during the tabulation.
Instead, GECOM went on to do the complete opposite. The COI also said that Lowenfield made statements that, even if they were made with the best intentions, were misleading. For instance, despite knowing that GECOM had already decided the votes would be tabulated by examining the SOP’s, the CEO on March 4th approved the use of a spreadsheet that did not match the SOP’s in party agents’ possession.
“Despite the loud objections of party agents who did not have access to nor possession of this spreadsheet, the CEO insisted that this document had to be used because it was an administrative document, and its use was efficient. By referring to the spreadsheet as an “administrative document” the CEO was in our view, conveying the impression that the spreadsheet was a GECOM approved document, which it was not.”
The COI noted that when he was called before GECOM to explain the use of the spreadsheet, the CEO did not tell the commissioners that a methodology had already been decided on to use the 323 SOP’s that had already been vetted. Nor did he tell them that the spreadsheet he was pushing to use, had significant errors.
“The data on the spreadsheet, when compared with SOPs in the possession of party agents, was found to have a record of votes for the APNU/AFC which had not been earned by that party and which was therefore an inflated record of the votes for that party, while the very spreadsheet carried a decrease in the number of votes earned by the PPP/C,” the COI said.

Myers
The COI also found that in Myers case, she took steps to limit the number of party agents and observers from the tabulation process at Ashmin’s Building. According to the report, there was no justification for this.
The report said that the DCEO, in most of her interactions with party agents, was unhelpful and even hostile. In contrast, however, the COI found that she even chaperoned a Minister of the then Government around Ashmin’s building.
“This was evident when she asked party agents and observers to leave the tabulation room saying, “Take your rubbish with you and leave”. On the occasion of a report of a bomb being placed in Ashmin’s building, she told party agents, observers and diplomats, “Y’all get out the room. There’s a bomb in the building.” She never left the building.”
“GECOM Commissioner Mr Sase Gunraj told us that on one occasion as he went up the stairs to the second floor to meet the RO, DCEO Myers stood in his way and blocked his path to prevent him from getting into contact with the RO. However, we saw video evidence of a minister of the then APNU/AFC government visiting the Ashmin’s Building to have a meeting with diplomats and observers.”
According to the COI, GECOM Chairperson, retired Justice Claudette Singh, testified that she was completely unaware that any meeting by a government minister was to be held in the GECOM building.
“At one point, the DCEO received a call on her phone which was apparently intended for the APNU/AFC minister, and so she passed her phone to the minister. The difference in her demeanour with the minister sharply contrasted with her demeanour with party agents and observers who had a legitimate interest in being at the Ashmin’s Building.”
“On the 5th March 2020, the DCEO seemed to have developed an obsession with getting party agents, observers and others out of the room. We believe that the bomb threat which turned out to be a hoax (given that the police had determined the objects handed over to them by the DCEO were completely harmless contraptions) was a contrivance, an artifice created by persons bent on manipulating the outcome of the elections,” the COI report stated.

Mingo
The COI also detailed a litany of breaches from Mingo when it comes to the tabulation process, including his determination to declare results that were not verified and even altered. It was pointed out that despite the tabulation of electoral district No. 4 being incomplete and a court order halting him, Mingo continued his efforts to declare the results- in clear violation of section 84 (1) of the Representation of the People’s Act.
“The RO ignored all advice that by so doing he was acting in breach of the court’s order. He offered no comfort to party agents and observers who sought to question him on the integrity of the information on his broadsheet. Very significantly, he made no response to a request to inspect the SOPs he claimed were used in the compilation of his broadsheet data. Indeed, we are satisfied that the RO and his staff defiantly resisted all efforts by party agents and observers to scrutinize GECOM’s SOPs.”

“The RO, on 13th March 2020, continued the use of his broadsheet in a changed location and in a room where tables previously provided for the convenience of party agents and observers had been withdrawn and were no longer available to them. On 13th March 2020, the RO allowed himself to be influenced by APNU/AFC party representative Ms. Carol Joseph, who was conducting herself in a wholly inappropriate manner, and as a result recanted on his earlier undertaking to party agents and observers to restart the ascertainment and tabulation process in the interest of transparency,” the COI report also said.
According to the COI, the authenticity of the documents Mingo insisted on using was in doubt, with the figures they contained altered in favour of the APNU/AFC party. Despite the myriad of concerns about the process, Mingo continued to stoutly resist all efforts by party agents and observers to examine the documents he claimed to be SOPs. He even permitted APNU/AFC representative Joseph to sign on to the form, despute no legal requirement for her to do so.
“We conclude therefore that permitting the signature of the APNU/AFC agent, Ms. Carol Joseph, was an effort by the RO to legitimize his highly unlawful conduct in the ascertainment and tabulation of the results of the elections in electoral district No. 4 and as an endorsement by the APNU/AFC party of the RO’s unjustified and wrongful declaration of their victory in electoral district No. 4,” the COI stated.

Recommendations
Meanwhile, the report contains several recommendations, including reforming GECOM to allow for more balanced representation. The report also shined a light on the need for campaign financing law… not the first body to do so, as previous calls have been made by observers.
“As it stands, the structure of GECOM is, at its core, politicized, making it difficult for it to operate with any efficiency or effectiveness. Consideration should be given to amending this to allow for more balanced participation from other organizations or professionals with technical expertise thereby reducing the politicization of the electoral process,” the COI report pointed out.
The COI noted that there is a strong need for campaign financing legislation as there is a perception that persons and/or corporations who give large donations stand to gain political favours.
“Save for the provisions set out in Part XII of ROPA, there is no legislation applicable to campaign financing in Guyana. Accordingly, there is a lack of transparency and accountability regarding political parties and campaign financing. Political parties have historically raised funds without any limitations regarding the source or amount of donation, and with very little obligation to disclose election expenses,” the COI stated.
Public Hearings of the COI commenced on November 3, 2022, and several witnesses took the stand including politicians, staff of GECOM, ranks from the Guyana Police Force, and other stakeholders such as local observers. However, the key players fingered in the attempts to rig elections had refused to testify when they were summoned before the Commission… including Mingo, Lowenfield and Myers. (G3)