Election fraud trial adjourned to Nov 17

The trial into the March 2020 General and Regional Elections has been adjourned to November 17, 2025, when proceedings are scheduled to resume before Magistrate Faith McGusty at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

The adjournment follows last week’s session, which saw the presentation of new evidence, the cross-examination of previous witnesses, and the hearing of a voir dire. The case is being conducted under case management guidelines, a structured framework designed to streamline proceedings and ensure that all parties are fully prepared for each phase of the trial. The elections fraud trials first commenced on July 29, 2024 and was initially being heard by Senior Magistrate Leron Daly at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court and was expected to run from July 29 to September 13. However, a series of delays and deferrals ensued and the matter was eventually brought before the court of now acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty, who continues to preside over the matter. A series of hearings have been held in recent weeks with several state witnesses taking the stand. Several persons are currently facing 19 charges of conspiracy to commit electoral fraud for the events that occurred following the March 2, 2020 General Elections. These include former Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield, former Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, Deputy CEO Roxanne Myers, former A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) Minister Volda Lawrence, APNU+AFC Chief Scrutineer Carol Joseph, and former Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) employees Enrique Livan, Sheffern February, Michelle Miller, and Denise Bobb-Cummings.
They are facing 28 charges relating to electoral fraud. Among the offences these defendants are accused of committing are: misconduct while holding public office; presenting falsified documentation; and planning to manipulate Guyana’s voters by presenting an inaccurate vote total. These charges stem from attempts to rig the 2020 Elections in favour of the then-ruling APNU/AFC.