Election CoI: ARO says was instructed by Mingo’s staff to use spreadsheet to tabulate votes

…questioned decision, but received no explanation

Assistant Registration Officer at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Alexandra Bowman, on Wednesday told the ongoing Commission of Inquiry (CoI) that during the tabulation of the Region Four votes after the March 2, 2020 elections, she was instructed by a staff of embattled Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo to use a spreadsheet for the verification of the votes – something which she says was never done during previous elections she worked at.
Bowman testified that on March 4, 2020 she was instructed by Mingo’s Clerk, Michelle Miller, that she will not be calling out votes from the Statements of Poll (SoPs) but from spreadsheets instead.
“When it was my turn to [call out figures to verify the votes] I was instructed that we won’t be calling from the SOPs anymore, we’ll be calling from a spreadsheet… I think I did ask why [there was a change from SOPs to spreadsheets] but I don’t recall receiving an explanation,” she indicated.
According to the GECOM staff, Miller had acted in place of Mingo during his absence.

Earlier on that day, Mingo had fallen ill and had to be escorted out of the Ashmin’s Building, which was being used as the Region Four Command Centre, by paramedics.

No spreadsheets in previous elections
Bowman further told the CoI that she worked at previous elections before and never saw spreadsheets being used during the tabulation of the votes. She added that she could not say for sure that the numbers on the spreadsheet reflected those that were recorded on the SOPs.
“I was not able to compare them,” she indicated to the Commission.
According to Bowman, the spreadsheet was downloaded onto her flash drive by another GECOM staff, Enrique Livan, and it was handed to her to use on a laptop that was provided.
“I didn’t ask him [Livan] where he got the information from… He said it was the spreadsheet. He was at the back [of the tabulation room with the other GECOM staff where the SOPs were] so I figured he know where it was coming from. I was given the stuff to call from and I called [the figures from that spreadsheet],” Bowman told the CoI.
From previous testimonies during the COI, it was disclosed that Livan had removed a laptop and flash drive from the tabulation room and retreated into another room. The police had to be called in and Livan claimed that he was exhausted hence he moved.
Nevertheless, Bowman went onto further testify on Wednesday that soon after she started calling out the numbers on the spreadsheet, there were objections by People Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) party agents, who were saying that the figures do not match the SOPs.
“There was just back and forth and a lot of noise between [PPP/C and A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change party agents],” she stated.
The GECOM staff added that at no point did Miller nor Livan, who were in the tabulation room, offered to re-check the figures on the spreadsheet to ascertain whether they were correctly recorded.
While she could not recall how many times there were objections raised on the differences with the figures, Bowman said there were several objections made. However, amidst those uproars, she was further instructed by Miller to “keep calling” the figures which she complied with.
“There was a lot of noise and I was seven-months pregnant at the time and I just wanted to get it over with… After the uproar in the tabulation room, I told them that I’m not feeling well because somebody pushed the table and hit my belly,” the GECOM staff recounted.
Following this, both the Deputy Chief Elections Officer, Roxanne Myers, and the GECOM Chair, Ret’d Justice Claudette Singh, came down to check on Bowman, who related that she indicated to them that she can no longer work since it was her first pregnancy and she was concerned about her safety in the room.
Bowman said she was eventually given permission to leave due to her condition and was placed on bed rest by her doctor the following day. She said that she did not return to work until after her delivery.
The GECOM staff told the Commission that she never had another conversation with the DCEO over what caused the uproar in the tabulation since she assumed that the official was up to date with what was going on. In fact, she added that even the GECOM Chair did not make such an enquiry.
“I assumed they already know what the commotion was about because everybody was being loud. So, it wasn’t a secret what they were rowing about,” Bowman stated.
She further related that efforts were made to recovery her personal flash drive that was used during the tabulation process but was told that she cannot get it as it is now “evidence”.

Mingo’s clerk remains silent
Meanwhile, Mingo’s Clerk, Michelle Miller, who is currently facing criminal charges in the courts along with Livan, Mingo and others, was summoned to appear before the COI today but opted to exercise her rights to remain silent. As a result, she was released by the Commission.
On Tuesday, three other GECOM staffers at the time of the 2020 elections, also opted to remain silent due to similar charges which were brought against them, after being summoned by the CoI.
In fact, those three employees – Denise Babb-Cummings, Shefern February and Carolyn Duncan – along with Miller had filed an injunction on Monday, citing that the summons amount to a breach of their constitutional rights against self-incrimination under Article 144 of the Constitution of Guyana.
They asked for an order quashing the summons and a permanent injunction preventing the CoI from compelling the attendance of anyone charged with a criminal offence.
Their application also called for a declaration that the State has breached its duty to ensure that every person charged with a criminal offence is given a fair trial; a declaration that the Commission has no power to compel the attendance of any witness charged with a criminal offence; and damages in excess of $50 million each for the breach of their constitutional right.
However, this application was not granted by the High Court. (G8)