Election fraud case AG ridicules absurdity of defense implying that observers rigged 2020 elections

Attorney General Anil Nandlall has ridiculed the absurdity of the utterances coming out of the long-delayed election fraud case, and the implications being made by the defense that it was the election observers, not Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) staff and APNU/AFC, who rigged the 2020 General and Regional Elections.
During this week’s Issues in the News programme, Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC., expressed his opinion on the ongoing election fraud case. The case, which is being conducted in the Georgetown court of acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty, has a total of nine persons, most of whom are former GECOM staff, facing over 30 counts of election fraud.

A common theme has been the defense implying, during cross examination of the witness, that it was the election observers, not the then GECOM staff, who altered votes and rigged the election. During his programme, Nandlall expressed his incredulity at these utterances and the emerging narrative blaming the observers.
“The elections fraud cases are ongoing, the trial has begun, and the evidence unfolding is quite interesting; and I would like you to follow the evidence and if you think the PNC’s narrative and APNU/AFC’s narrative that they were the victims of fraud. If you think that narrative is absurd…if you think that narrative is fraud, you follow the lawyers who are defending the charges,” Nandlall said.

“If you think that that (narrative) is absurd, well then it’s a different level of absurdity I’m reading coming out of the cross-examination and the theory of the defense. From what I’ve heard in the public domain, reported in the press, I get the clear impression that the defense counsel’s theory is that it is the observers who observed the elections, who attempted to interfere with the results. In other words, it is the observers who attempted to rig the elections, not Mingo or the PNC.”
Nandlall pointed out that the election observers included the Organization of American States (OAS), the Commonwealth team, the diplomatic community. In addition, the team included local bodies such as American Chamber of Commerce-Guyana, the Private Sector observer team, and the Guyana Bar Association.
“Apparently, all of these observers, according to defense counsel, were the ones who attempted to rig the elections. And it is the type of mentality I’m speaking about…It is the same type of mentality you see here in the case, and almost in everything that they do,” the Attorney General said.
One witness who was questioned about the election observers and whether they could have altered the election results was election fraud case witness and Head of the Diaspora Unit, Rosalinda Rasul. During her cross examination by the defense, she was questioned whether the observers were left unsupervised with Statements of Poll (SoPs) while at the Ashmins Building for the tabulation, implying that this is when they could have been altered.
To this Rasul pointed out that staff from GECOM were usually in the room too.
Nine persons are before the court in this case on allegations they attempted to rig the March 2020 General and Regional Elections. They include former Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo; former Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield, and his former Deputy Roxanne Myers. Also charged are former People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Chairperson Volda Lawrence; PNCR activist Carol Smith-Joseph; and GECOM employees Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, Michelle Miller and Denise Babb-Cummings.
Together, these nine defendants confront 33 counts of election-related fraud, focused on alleged efforts to manipulate voting results.
Initially overseen by Senior Magistrate Leron Daly, the trial began in July 2024, but was paused following her extended medical leave, which has resulted in the trial being reassigned to Magistrate McGusty.
When the matter was called on December 8, 2024, the defence had pressed for a fresh start to the already delayed trial. On the other hand, the prosecution had argued that a restart of the case was completely unnecessary, and that all the court needed to do was to recall the previous witnesses.
Ultimately, however, McGusty had ordered a restart in the election fraud trial. The case is expected to continue on March 20, 2025.