Chief Elections Officer of GECOM, Mr. Keith Lowenfield.
23rd of June, 2020. Georgetown, Guyana, South America.
After being required by the Guyana Elections Commission Chair, Claudette Singh, to prepare a report for submission based on the recently concluded recount results, the Chief Elections Officer of the Guyana Elections Commission, Mr. Keith Lowenfield, defied the order and instead produced a report based on entirely fabricated figures.
There is no basis for the figures which were used to prepare the report which was submitted to GECOM by the Chief Elections Officer today, 23th of June, 2020. The figures in the report are purely fictional and obviously were fabricated entirely in Mr. Lowenfield’s head or perhaps with the help of others.
Yes, there were allegations of fraud by the APNU/AFC coalition which claimed that there were dead and migrated voters etc, but the CARICOM Scrutineer Team in their report said that these allegations were largely exaggerated and unsubstantiated. Further, the CARICOM report states that these allegations must be contested in court via an elections petition AFTER a declaration based on the RECOUNT RESULTS. The recount results show that the PPP/C won its main opponent, the APNU/AFC by over 15,000 votes.
The report presented today by the Chief Elections Officer, Mr. Keith Lowenfield, reads:
–Begin Quote–
Hon. Justice Claudette Singh S.C.C.C.H
Chairperson
Guyana Elections Commission
Re: Preparation and Submission of Elections Report
I write in respect to your letter dated 16th of June, 2020.
I have taken note of the guidance of the Court of Appeal in Eslyn David v Chief Elections Officer et al in the preparation of my Report under section 96 of the Representation of the People Act and providing advice as required by Article 177 (2) (b) of the constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.
I hereby attach a Table showing the valid and credible votes cast in accordance with Section 96 of the Representation of the People’s Act.
–End Quote–
Below are screenshots of the report prepared by Mr. Lowenfield and submitted today, 23rd of June, to GECOM.
According to the report prepared today by Mr. Lowenfield, the APNU/AFC coalition gained 170,914 votes while the main opposition PPP/C got 167,254 votes.
The CARICOM-endorsed recount results on the other hand tell an entirely different story. According to the results of the recount, the winner of the elections is PPP/C with 233,336 votes while the APNU/AFC gained 217,920 votes.
The Jamaican Observer, a Caribbean Online Journal, has referred to the situation in Guyana which spiraled out of control since Marh 2, 2020 as “shameful circus” in one of their articles entitled, “Time to end the shameful circus in Guyana.”
When the GECOM chair last week ordered the Chief Elections Officer to prepare his report based on the recount results, an APNU/AFC supporter quickly moved to court to block the declaration. The hearing concluded yesterday, 21st of June with 1 judge ruling that the Court of Appeals does not have jurisdiction to hear the matter while the other two ruled that it does. Justice Brassington Renolds ruled that the Chief Elections Officer must present a report based on “valid votes cast.” However, the definition of valid votes cast is disputed here, with the recount results showing one thing and the Chief Elections Officer coming up with outlandish figures from out of the blue.
The Guyanese people have waited patiently for an outcome of the March, 2, 2020 elections and it has been over 3 months while the future of the country hangs in the balance. The APNU/AFC government shows an unusual resolve to cling to power at all cost. But how long will this charade last?
Guyana’s 2020 elections saga is once again smelling the Caribbean Court of Justice, but this time, it is not a problem of mathematics, but English, or perhaps both.
