‘Elections results tainted’

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams said the irregularities, discrepancies and anomalies cited in the Observation Reports of the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, have tainted the General and Regional Elections, and as such the CEO should not be ordered to compile a report for the declaration of the results.

The Attorney General weighed in on the matter, hours after the Chief Elections Officer submitted his Report on the National Recount to the Chair of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), and the Elections Commissioners.

The Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, in his report to the Elections Commission, cited more said more than 200, 000 votes have been affected as a result of anomalies and allegations of voter impersonation. In addition to the alleged cases of persons voting in the place of the dead and persons who were out of the jurisdiction on Elections Day, there were well over 2,000 cases of missing Certificates of Employment, Oaths of Identity, Poll Books, Proxies, marked Lists of Electors, Folios, Counterfoils, unused ordinary and tendered ballots, spoiled and rejected ballot papers. Added to that, there were close to 5,000 alleged cases of voter impersonation. In each of the Observation Report tendered to the Elections Commission for the 10 Electoral District, Lowenfield indicated the elections that did not satisfy the criteria of impartiality, fairness and compliance with the Constitution and the Representation of the People Act.

The Attorney General said based on the evidence before the Commission, as contained in the Observation Reports and other supporting documents, the Elections Commission should request of the Chief Elections Officer to submit a report under Section 96 of the Representation of the Peoples Act Cap.1:03 pursuant to paragraph 14 of the said Order, on the ground that the irregularities, discrepancies and anomalies affected the integrity and credibility of the elections.

In support of his case, the Attorney General cited the case of Chilima anor v Mutharika Constitutional Reference No.1 of 2019, Malawi HC 431, in which, there were allegations of irregularities and anomalies. In that case, it was held that the irregularities and anomalies had been so widespread, systematic and grave that the integrity of the results had been seriously compromised. Further, that the results of the elections could not be trusted as a true reflection of the will of the voters as expressed through their votes cast during the May 21, 2019 elections.

“In this case the irregularities, anomalies and discrepancies were occasioned when the following occurred: – submitted, altered, varied and transmitted results in clear disregard of the process recorded in the tally sheet; accepted tally sheets from centers where the total number of votes cast exceeded the total number of registered voters; total number of used and unused ballot papers was lower than the ballot paper issued; the number of votes of candidates was not balancing with the total number of valid votes cast; Presiding Officers failed to prepare and provide summary of the final results Record of the polling process, among others,” the Attorney General pointed out.

He noted that the five member Bench imposed a duty on the Elections Commission to respond to requests by contesting parties to resolve irregularities, anomalies and discrepancies before declaring the results of the elections. “The Court held that a failure to do so can amount to bias on the part of the Commission and a gross and unjustifiable dereliction of duty under the Malawian Constitution (similar to article 162(1)(b) of the Guyana Constitution) to conduct impartial elections,” Williams further submitted.

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), with support from the smaller opposing parties, has been up in arms against any move by the Elections Commission to investigate and or resolve irregularities that were unearthed during the National Recount of the ballots cast at the March 2 General and Regional Elections. On Saturday, it accused of Lowenfield of violating the Order, contending that he had no authority to pronounce on the irregularities.

“…Lowenfield arrogated unto himself the role of an investigator, Judge and executioner and made conclusive findings, in respect of the wild, reckless and baseless allegations made by APNU+AFC and rendered a judgement on them,” the PPP/C said in a statement.
The PPP/C called on GECOM to ignore the irregularities cited by Lowenfield, and declare the results of the elections based on the tabulated votes generated during the National Recount.

But the Attorney General said GECOM, under the Constitution and the Elections Law (Amendment) Act, has the authority to resolve irregularities, discrepancies and anomalies during any electoral process, and ought to resolve the anomalies before any declaration is made as he dismissed the contention of the Opposition.

“Jurisdiction is conferred on the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) by the last recital in Order No.60 of 2020 which derives its authority from article 162 (1) (b) and section 22 of the Election Laws (Amendment) Act No.15 of 2000 to resolve irregularities, discrepancies and anomalies occurring in the elections process,” the Attorney General iterated.