CJ rules RO’s Region 4 declaration of elections results “unlawful”

…orders process to restart today at 11:00h
…must be witnessed by stakeholders
…prohibits GECOM from declaring results

Chief Justice Roxane George has found that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) breached the Representation of the People Act when Region 4 Returning Officer (RO) Clairmont Mingo purported to make a declaration of unverified results on March 5, three days after the recently concluded General and Regional Elections.

Those results announced by Mingo essentially awarded the election win to the ruling A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) but this was met with protests from each of the other ten parties contesting the election.
The Chief Justice ruled that given the blatant breaches of the laws governing the elections and their processes, the results declared by Mingo were unlawful, and as such, have since been vacated and ruled that they are to be deemed null and void and without effect. More specifically, the Court ruled that the RO did not compile the tabulation of the majority of the SOPs in a transparent manner to ensure accountability in front of the statutorily authorised stakeholders as defined by Sec 86(1).
In handing down the ruling, Justice George ordered the Commission via its RO and staff that they would have to comply with the rulings of the court starting at 11:00h today.

Having ruled that the declaration by Mingo was unlawful, Chief Justice George upheld that the injunctions previously granted be held in place, which means that the results will have to be determined in compliance with section 84 (1) of the Representation of the People Act.
This provision demands, among other things, that identified personnel such as observers and party counting agents be present for the process.
She noted in her ruling that the discretion would be left up to the RO and Deputy RO to decide on whether they wanted to restart the entire tabulation process for the Region Four or to continue from where it left off, meaning the remaining 458 boxes would be verified using Statement of Polls (SoPs) as was done with 421 boxes when various delays interrupted the process.
She said too, it is for the two named officials to determine the best method to be used in the tabulation including spreadsheets.

The Chief Justice, in handing down her ruling yesterday, was especially critical in her summation, when she turned to evidence provided by the RO, his Deputy and Attorney-at-Law, James Bond, a coalition candidate among others.
According to the Chief Justice, the evidence submitted “confirms the confusion that ensued with regards to tabulation and declaration of the votes for Region Four”. She did not take cognisance that the “confusion” was the result of various stratagems to delay the count and then finally to seek to announce unverified figures.
She said too that when compared with the processes used for other regions as was highlighted in evidence given, there appears to be no standard methodology employed across the various regions when it comes to the process to be used.
It was observed that while there appeared to be contention over the accuracy of the figures being used to tabulate the Region 4 votes using a spreadsheet, the reports indicated that spreadsheets had been used in other regions also.
Justice George told the packed courtroom that what can, in fact, be gleaned from the affidavit is that the GECOM offices had descended into mayhem and chaos during the time of the tabulation and attempted declarations.
She noted too that noticeably, there was no affidavit from the Senior Clerk who took over “and played a critical role” in the finalising of the tabulation process when RO Mingo fell ill on March 4 and had to be taken to the hospital.
Justice George in her ruling adumbrated that the portfolio did not in any way safeguard that the provisions in 84(1) would have been complied with since the clerk was not a designated officer to whom the task could have been delegated and the RO was not present to supervise her.
The Chief Justice noted that there was no affidavit from that person accounting for what transpired at the Commission during that time and that the other affidavits provided conflicting accounts.
She said the evidence illustrated glaring inconsistencies particularly as it relates to the suspension of the tabulation of the votes and the declaration by Mingo.
The Chief Justice said there was no evidence presented in relation to the tabulation of votes in Mingo’s absence and the formulation of the questionable spreadsheet.
GECOM’s Attorney, Neil Boston, had argued that there was a presumption of “regularity” to be assumed by the RO upon his return in assuming that the clerk essentially did what was supposed to be done in the manner in which it should be done and that in any event there was ‘substantial compliance’ with the relevant section of the law.
These arguments did not find favour with the Chief Justice.
In handing down her ruling, the Chief Justice noted that taking into account the arguments and evidence put forward by the litigants, the non-compliance has, as such, vitiated the announcement of the results by Mingo.
The Chief Justice ruled also that GECOM cannot declare the results of the elections of March 2, 2020, unless the RO or Deputy RO for Region Four complies with the relevant provisions of the Representation of the People Act.
She was adamant that the ruling did not decide on the result or the validity of the result for Region Four but rather the decision dealt with the conduct of the RO and his noncompliance with section 84 (1) of the Act.
Costs were awarded against the Elections Commission in the sum of $500,000. The matter had been brought against GECOM and its officials by Reaz Holladar.