Volda Lawrence’s signature match disputed Region 4 results, handwriting expert tells court

A prosecution handwriting expert gave testimony in court that signatures said to be from former Government Minister Volda Lawrence on passport applications are the same as a signature on a disputed Form 24 election document from Guyana’s March 2020 elections.

This evidence is about disputed Region Four declarations, which were important in the argument over numbers that would have put the governing APNU/AFC coalition ahead of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).
Those numbers did not appear in the results announced by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) after the recount.
The final recount results showed the PPP/C received 233,336 votes and APNU+AFC received 217,920 votes, with the PPP/C winning 33 seats and APNU+AFC 31.
Lawrence, a Government Minister and former head of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), worked as an APNU+AFC counting agent during the March 2020 elections. She is one of the people accused of wrongdoing related to the disputed election results.
Handwriting expert Ameer Mohamed, who was accepted by the court as an expert, said he analysed signatures purported to be from Lawrence on passport applications from 2010, 2015, and 2020, comparing them with a signature on the disputed Form 24 document.
When asked if the signatures matched, Mohamed responded in the affirmative.
His findings were questioned during virtual and in-person cross-examination by defence lawyer Nigel Hughes, who enquired about the methods used and asked Mohamed to point out the handwriting features that supported his conclusion.
Mohamed said his work examined features such as hooks, loops, peaks, letter drag, how letters connected, and the quality of the line.
Under Hughes’ questioning, the expert noted a hook could be seen in the letter “V” in Lawrence’s name.
Meanwhile, Mohamed’s work also examined documents with signatures said to be from former Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield and accused Carol Smith-Joseph. The prosecution also introduced Nigel Steven, whose testimony covered the chain of custody for the documents that Mohamed examined.
Earlier, former Government Minister Robeson Benn returned to the witness stand for cross-examination. He was asked if he knew about claims that Lowenfield had changed or inflated election numbers. Benn did not answer, and Magistrate McGusty dismissed him from the stand. The magistrate stated that Benn would be called back later to continue his cross-examination.
The trial into the 2020 elections continues at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
Those on trial include former Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield, former Deputy CEO Myers, former Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, former A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) Minister Volda Lawrence, and former APNU/AFC Chief Scrutineer Carol Smith-Joseph.
The other accused are former GECOM employees Enrique Livan, Sheffern February, Michelle Miller and Denise Bobb-Cummings. All defendants have pleaded not guilty and posted cash bail.
The prosecution, led by King’s Counsel Darshan Ramdhani, alleged that the nine accused conspired to manipulate the tabulation of votes in Region Four and ultimately declare a false result in favour of the APNU/AFC.
It further alleged that the accused inflated the coalition’s votes, reduced those of the Peoples Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) and departed from the prescribed process for ascertaining the results.