Election fraud trial: Witness tells court of election tallying irregularities

The election fraud trial resumed on Tuesday with testimony from the Head of the Diaspora Unit, Rosalinda Rasul, who was an accredited observer with the American Chamber of Commerce during the 2020 General and Regional Elections. Having previously testified before the case was halted, Rasul once again took the stand to recount her observations during the elections.

The case had originally restarted on Monday when Magistrate Faith McGusty heard the prosecution’s opening address. The prosecution had objected to the defense making an opening address at this stage, arguing that the defense was only permitted to do so at the commencement of the trial, not during preliminary proceedings. However, attorneys for the defense challenged that fairness required that the defense have an equal opportunity to respond to the prosecution’s opening address, questioning whether the magistrate would strike out the prosecution’s entire opening address if the defense was not given the opportunity to reply.
Magistrate McGusty was expected to rule on Tuesday whether the defense could make an opening address or if the prosecution’s opening address would be struck out entirely.
When the court reconvened on Tuesday, Magistrate McGusty ruled in favour of the prosecution, stating that the defense would only be allowed to respond when they lead their defence.
Rasul eventually was able to take the stand, where she detailed her movements on Election Day and the days following, explaining that she had visited several polling stations in Region Three, including the Leonora Primary School and Den Amstel, West Coast Demerara. She described her observations at these polling stations, including how the counting process was conducted by presiding officers. On March 2, 2020, she said was also present at Mon Repos Primary School on the East Coast of Demerara, where she continued to observe the tallying process.
On March 3, 2020, Rasul testified that she went to the Ashmins Building on the corners of Hadfield and High Streets in Georgetown at 1:35 AM, where she saw Region Four Returning Officer (RO) Clairmont Mingo and other election officials. She noted that Mingo had identified himself and that the tabulation process had briefly paused before resuming at 2:00 AM. Rasul explained that she was familiar with the Statements of Poll (SOPs) because she had seen and handled them at polling stations the previous night.
On March 4, 2020, Rasul returned to the Ashmins Building at 9:00 PM, expecting the tallying process to continue. However, she testified that verification did not begin as scheduled. She said she remained in the RO’s office with her computer until 10:52 AM when Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO) Roxanne Myers stated that the process would soon begin and there should be a pause because Mingo was not well. Rasul said she identified Myers by her official badge.
Shortly after, she said she observed an ambulance outside the building. Upon re-entering, she saw Mingo being carried out in a chair, wearing a respiratory mask, and surrounded by GECOM staff. By 11:41h, Myers announced that Mingo’s vitals were stable and that the process would resume in “forty-five minutes,” but the verification process did not restart. Rasul said until 1:00 PM it was announced again by Myers that the process would resume but instead, they would start with the East Bank of Demerara.
She said disputes arose when the process resumed with the verification of votes from the East Bank of Demerara instead of Georgetown, which party representatives objected to. They argued that Georgetown’s count was incomplete and should be finished before moving to another sub-district. According to her testimony, at 14:00h Michelle Miller and ‘Bowen’ resumed the tallying process, with Miller reading from a document and Bowen entering data into a laptop. Concerns were raised when it became apparent that they were using a spreadsheet instead of SOPs. She said party agents objected, demanding that CEO Keith Lowenfield explain why SOPs were not being used. At 14:15h she said Lowenfield entered the room and defended the use of the spreadsheet, stating that it was an “administrative document” and that SOPs would be used for verification later. However, objections persisted as party representatives insisted on using SOPs immediately. According to the witness, at 14:35h Miller continued reading from the spreadsheet, but representatives again protested when they noticed discrepancies between the numbers being called and those on their SOPs. Rasul testified that some 17 of the boxes were inaccurate and that the room became increasingly crowded as more political agents entered to witness the dispute.
Rasul further testified that during the tabulation process, she was positioned close to the key individuals involved. “I was about maybe six feet away from Miss Miller, but the PPP agents were actually on my left hand, about two feet away from me, and the APNU agents were on my right hand, similarly about two feet away,” she stated. She emphasized that her view of the proceedings was unobstructed.

Closely monitored
She described how party agents closely monitored the counting process. “Because I saw them looking at those SOPs… it was a broader document that Sonia Parag and Mr. Kwame McCoy were looking at, and Mr. Sasenarine was inputting data that was being called by Miss Miller into his laptop.”
As objections mounted over the discrepancies, Rasul recounted how the room became chaotic. “Ms. Parag and Mr. Sasenarine Singh were both saying that the number that Ms. Miller was calling did not matching the number on their SOP,” she testified.
With tensions escalating, she said more political leaders entered the room, including the now Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo and Attorney General Anil Nandlall. Rasul described how Lowenfield was informed that the spreadsheet numbers did not match the SOPs. In response, he briefly left the room and returned with official SOPs.
Once SOPs were used, she said the objections stopped. “When Ms Miller started to call from the SOPs, there were exclamations from the PPP agents that the numbers were matching,” Rasul stated.
Despite this resolution, Rasul testified that the verification process was repeatedly interrupted. “We kept having multiple breaks,” she said, describing how these delays further prolonged the tabulation.
Despite the objections, the process was halted. The following day, 5 March 2020, the tabulation resumed, but the inaccuracies continued—this time made by GECOM employee Enrique Livan, who reportedly stated that he was “not cut out for this” and was exhausted. Rasul testified that Livan left the room before returning to collect a laptop and a flash drive—the same laptop used to enter the data. This action also caused an uproar.
According to the witness an alleged bomb threat then occurred and disrupted the vote tabulation process during the 2020 general elections, raising suspicions that it was an attempt to remove party agents from the building. Despite the announcement, she testified that she chose to remain in the Returning Officer’s room with her colleagues.
“I did not believe it was a genuine bomb threat and I also did not see anyone moving at the same time. So, I opted to stay behind as well,”Rasul told the court.
As the day progressed, tensions escalated with the appearance of Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, who entered the room around 13:30h. and positioned himself at the front of the building, where tabulation figures were being called. The witness recalled that Mingo declared, “he was here to make a declaration,” prompting immediate objections from several party agents present.
The trial paused and is scheduled to continue on Wednesday at 9:30h, with the witness expected to complete her testimony as the court examines the contentious events surrounding the 2020 elections.
Nine individuals are currently before the court in connection with the March 2020 general and regional elections. The accused include former Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, former Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield, and his former Deputy Roxanne Myers. Also charged are former PNCR Chairperson Volda Lawrence, PNCR activist Carol Smith-Joseph, and GECOM employees Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, Michelle Miller, and Denise Babb-Cummings.
In January 2025, Magistrate McGusty ruled that the case would proceed summarily. On Monday, all defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The nine defendants face a total of 33 counts of election-related fraud, centered around alleged attempts to manipulate the voting results. The trial, initially overseen by Senior Magistrate Leron Daly, began in July 2024 but was paused due to her extended medical leave. This led to the case being reassigned to Magistrate McGusty.
When the matter was called on December 8, 2024, the defense requested a fresh start to the already delayed trial. In contrast, the prosecution contended that restarting the case was unnecessary and that the court should simply recall the previous witnesses. Ultimately, Magistrate McGusty ordered that the election fraud trial be restarted.