Lowenfield echoes APNU/AFC’s narrative on unsubstantiated ‘anomalies’ – PPP/C

…with no evidence, says elections “not credible”

Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield seems to be teaming up with the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) to peddle the unsubstantiated claims of electoral fraud, according to the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).

The PPP/C made this charge following the submission of the CEO’s Report to Chair of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Retired Justice Claudette Singh.
In his report, Lowenfield sided with the APNU/AFC when he said the March 2 General and Regional Elections lacked credibility and fairness owing to the unsubstantiated allegations of dead and migrated persons voting.
However, neither Lowenfield nor the APNU/AFC produced a shred of definitive evidence to support those allegations.
The inclusion of these allegations in the report did not sit well with the PPP/C, which stated in a strongly worded statement that the CEO’s actions were not surprising.
“Undoubtedly, in one swipe, Lowenfield has acted ultra vires, in excess of and without authority, in violation of natural justice, in abrogation of the separation of powers doctrine, unlawfully, unconstitutionally; and the pronouncements that he has made are certainly null, void and of no effect. That his pronouncements and tabulations bear a striking resemblance to the contentions and calculations of the APNU+AFC have not gone unnoticed. He would make an excellent witness for the APNU+AFC at the trial of an Election Petition,” the party said.
The PPP/C has said the CEO acted outside of what he was required to do, as stipulated by the Gazetted Recount Order. The Party reminded that Lowenfield was required only to tabulate and submit “in a report, together with a summary of the observation reports for each District, to the Commission on or before 13th day of June 2020.”
The party explained that it is clear from that Recount Order that Lowenfield has no power, authority or mandate to offer a view, opinion or judgement of any type, either in the Observation Report or the Matrices to be tabulated.
The party statement went on to remind that as it relates to the Observation Report, Lowenfield’s singular duty was to summarise the various Observation Reports; and in respect of the Matrices, his sole duty was to aggregate the totals in the Matrices coming out of the recently concluded national recount of ballots.

Investigator, judge and executioner
The PPP/C’s statement accused Lowenfield of arrogating unto himself the role of an investigator, judge and executioner in clear violation of the Order, since he made conclusive findings. The findings were in relation to the “baseless allegations made by APNU+AFC, and he rendered a judgement on them by concluding that they were established, without doing any investigations, hearing no one affected, and applying principles only known to himself.”
Additionally, Lowenfield is accused of indicting himself for Misfeasance in Public Office by asserting that he could not have executed credible and fair elections. However, the Party noted that it would be pursuing this issue at a later date.
Glaringly, by throwing himself under the proverbial bus to act in accordance with the APNU/AFC, the CEO is also taking down the thousands of GECOM workers who ensured that the elections were glitch-free in the days leading up to and after March 02. Lowenfield has also rendered the entire Commission complicit in, and culpable of, spending approximately $8B of taxpayers’ dollars in holding elections that were not credible, the party has said.
Meanwhile, the PPP/C General Secretary and Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, pointed out that Lowenfield also included in his Observation Report false allegations made by the APNU/AFC, which he elevated to anomalies, and which, if taken seriously, could reduce the number of valid votes recounted from 460,352 to 185,260 (60%), thereby disenfranchising 275,092 persons.
“In addition, he seeks to cast doubt on the credibility of the elections with the use of words such as “does not appear to satisfy” and “cannot be ascertained”. Neither the Recount Order nor the laws of Guyana allow him to make that judgment. Only a court, by way of a petition, can do so,” Jagdeo said.
He added that Lowenfield has therefore acted “ultra vires” and every aspect other than the General Elections Recount totals and the Regional Elections Recount totals should be ignored by the Commission.

Casting doubt
Jagdeo said his Party is not surprised that Lowenfield is attempting to cast doubt on the process. He added that the Party is aware the Coalition knew that the recount would have shown that the PPP/C won by an overwhelming majority, so they needed to cast doubt on the process.
Additionally, Jagdeo posited that the GECOM Secretariat totally ignored the blatant fraud committed by Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo in Region Four (Demerara–Mahaica).
The former President also said the recount could have been completed only because of the watchful eyes of the Caricom high-level Team, other observes, and the Chair and Commissioners of GECOM.
He maintained that the numbers show an overwhelming victory for the PPP/C, and the GECOM Chair should declare the results based on those figures.