GECOM gives Lowenfield 2 days to use recount district certificates to submit final report

Chief Elections Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Keith Lowenfield, has been given a strict deadline by which he must submit a final report to enable GECOM Chair, retired Justice Claudette Singh, to declare a winner of the 2020 General and Regional Elections.

A letter which Singh wrote to Lowenfield has advised him to prepare a final report based on the results of the recently concluded National Recount, which lasted for over 30 days at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre (ACCC).
“Pursuant to Article 177 (2) (b) of the Constitution and Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act, you are hereby requested to prepare and submit your report by 13:00 hrs on June 18th, 2020 using the results of the recount for consideration by the commission,” Singh wrote in her letter to Lowenfield. The CEO simply has to tabulate the 10 SoRs certificate to fulfil his constitutional and statutory obligations.

The results, which constitute data generated from the 2,339 Statements of Recount (SORs), show that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) won the March 2 General Election with 233,336 votes cast in its favour. The APNU/AFC secured 217,920 votes. For the new parties, the numbers are as follows: A New and United Guyana – 2313; Change Guyana –1953; Liberty and Justice Party – 2657; People’s Republic Party – 889; The Citizen’s Initiative – 680; The New Movement – 244; and the United Republican Party – 360.
In the Regional Elections, the PPP/C also won with 233,661 votes, while APNU/AFC secured 217,055 votes. Change Guyana – 2607; Fed-Up Party – 153, Liberty and Justice Party – 2935; Organisation for the Victory of the People – 448; People’s Republic Party – 927; and the United Republican Party – 1369.
Justice Singh on Tuesday voted to use the results from the recently concluded recount and have the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/c) declared the winner of the 2020 General and Regional Elections. This decision was made on Tuesday afternoon, after a day of meeting between Singh and the six GECOM commissioners. At one point during the Commission’s deliberations, APNU/AFC-appointed Commissioners Vincent Alexander, Charles Corbin and Desmond Trotman made a last-ditch attempt to have the entire elections scrapped.
The APNU/AFC-appointed commissioners presented a proposal for the elections to be nullified and for there to be fresh elections based on APNU/AFC’s unsubstantiated claims of irregularities. The PPP-nominated Commissioners, on the other hand, presented arguments in favour of using the results generated from the National Recount as the basis for an official declaration.
In her decision, Singh said GECOM does not have the power to interrogate witnesses and determine the credibility of an election. This, according to her, is for the High Court and an election petition.
Further, Singh noted that GECOM is not empowered to annul an election under any law. This is something that Government-nominated GECOM Commissioners had asked for in a motion moved before the Commission on Tuesday morning, and which was ultimately defeated.
“In her decision to the Commission, Justice Singh asserted that the Commission does not have the powers of a Court of Law to examine and re-examine witnesses, or to procure official documents to determine the truth of the allegations contained therein,” the statement also said.
“The Chairperson posited that she is of the opinion that some of the allegations are of a serious nature and must be addressed. However, Article 163 (1) (b) of the Constitution confers on the High Court the exclusive jurisdiction to determine the validity of an election.”
Singh, a retired Appeal Court Judge, explained in her decision that GECOM conducted the National Recount under Article 162 (1) (b) of the Constitution “to take such action as appear necessary or expedient to ensure impartiality and fairness.”
This, according to Singh, does not mean that GECOM can assume powers to give itself the jurisdiction to determine the credibility or an election. In fact, Article 163 of the Constitution of Guyana is clear that the High Court has the exclusive right to determine the credibility of an election.
Justice Singh also noted that the Commission cannot arrogate to itself a jurisdiction to annul an election, since no specific power was conferred on it under Article 162 (1) (b). A perusal of Articles 162 and 163 of the Constitution shows that the Articles clearly and sharply separate the respective functions of GECOM and the High Court in matters of electoral process.