“I have never seen such a barefaced attempt to rig elections” – local observer who witnessed rigging since 1968

Local observers said they witnessed a “barefaced, ugly and deliberate” attempt to rig the 2020 General and Regional Elections during the tabulation of votes for Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) in the morning hours on Friday.

Upon the resumption of the tabulation process at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) High and Hadfield Streets’ Command Centre, Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo used figures that do not correspond with that of political party representatives and observers.
Attempts by those stakeholders to query the figures were met with stern resistance and intimidation tactics – something which even prompted the walkout of ABCE diplomats and subsequently, other observers.
At an emergency press conference afterwards, the Private Sector Commission (PSC) expressed deep concerns over what had transpired, whereby the Returning Officer was still refusing to comply with the ruling of the Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George for the verification process to be done in a transparent manner.
“In all my considerable life and career, in and out of politics, in this country, I have never seen such a barefaced, ugly and deliberate attempt to rig an election,” local observer, Kit Nascimento told reporters.
In justifying his remark, Nascimento pointed out that at around 10:00h, APNU/AFC representative, Carol Joseph barged into the Office of the Returning Officer, ordering him to begin the verification process.
“She begun to scream and shout in an entirely abusive manner, hurling and shouting at everyone in the room,” he explained, adding that “she virtually directed the RO as to how to do the process.”
Additionally, Nascimento said the elections officials were rushing through the process, allowing no opportunity for anyone to query the figures being called out.
Moreover, despite a commitment from GECOM to use the original Statements of Poll (SoPs) during the verification process, Nascimento said they were, once again, using spreadsheets.
“It was immediately apparent that she [GECOM clerk] was reading from a spreadsheet and not from Statements of Poll. She read at an enormous rate, absolutely impossible to follow her. On each occasion that she read out figures, we were able to follow, it became absolutely apparent that the figures she was reading out did not match any of the Statements of Poll in the possession of the party representatives or indeed party or observers who had them,” he explained.
Expanding on this point, he highlighted that in some cases, the APNU/AFC coalition received about 70 to 100 votes more from GECOM’s figures while the PPP/C had received major deductions.
Furthermore, he said when the variations were raised by the stakeholders, the RO refused to have it addressed.
According to Nascimento, the entire process was descending into “chaos” and a “farce”.

Investors’ confidence
These sentiments were endorsed by the PSC Chairman, who pointed out that the walkout demonstrated by the ABCE diplomats is a clear indication that the process was not transparent.
“When we saw the entire ABCE Ambassadors, the United States Ambassador, the UK High Commissioner, the Canadian High Commissioner and the European Union Ambassador walked out of the room and walked away from that process, we knew there and then that the entire international community has given up on that process and the credibility and integrity of that process,” he expressed.
Meanwhile, Gouveia contended that the current political climate has dire impacts on the business community, with major financial losses already recorded.
“The Private Sector has been suffering enormous impact and loss since the preparations of these elections. This is exceptionally depressing for the business community that we cannot abide by the rule of law and which is essential to investors’ confidence and business development and the stability of our country,” he stated.
These activities highlighted by the PSC unfolded prior to the ruling handed down by Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George who ordered that GECOM ensure the SoPs are displayed so that they can be reviewed by stakeholders.