Although surveillance cameras were installed at the Ashmins building in preparation for the March 2020 general and regional elections, Chief Election Officer (CEO) Vishnu Persaud has said the video footage cannot be found.
The initial tabulation of ballots for District Four, which was mired in controversy, was done at the Ashmins building, located at the corner of Hadfield and High streets, Georgetown. It served as the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) administrative centre for the 2020 elections and housed the office of the then Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo.
“I am not aware that any such footage is available… Nobody seems to know when the cameras were removed and where the footage might be and in terms of records,” Persaud disclosed yesterday when he testified at the first public hearing for the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the controversial polls.
The CoI is a result of a promise by President Irfaan Ali to investigate the attempt to rig the March 2020 polls in favour of the former APNU+AFC government.
Evidence is being led by Trinidadian Senior Counsel Sophia Chote. The two other Commissioners sitting on the Commission are Justice Godfrey P Smith SC and retired Justice Carl Singh.
Persaud, who was the first witness to give evidence at the inquiry, said upon assuming office as the country’s CEO, he did enquire about the cameras and footage but learnt that the computers that should have contained this information were “wiped”.
“…All of the computers were wiped,” Persaud told the CoI, which is headed by retired Justice Stanley John, of Trinidad.
Chaos erupted at the Ashmins Building on March 5, 2020 after Mingo used a spreadsheet to declare the APNU+AFC coalition the winner of District Four instead of Statements of Poll. His numbers were later proven to be false by a recount of the ballots cast.
Mingo is currently before the court facing a number of electoral fraud charges. The dispute over the District Four count led to a painstaking 35-day recount scrutinized by CARICOM, the Organisation of American States and local observers. The recount determined that the PPP/C won the elections.
Prior to the 2020 elections, Persaud said, he was informed that the cameras were installed by a private service provider at the Ashmins building based on instructions given by the then CEO, Keith Lowenfield.
As the CEO, Persaud said, he is responsible for records kept at GECOM and would also have knowledge as to where security footage is stored.
Electoral processes
Persaud was sworn in as the CEO on December 14, 2021. He replaced Lowenfield, who is also facing a series of electoral fraud charges.
Prior to this, Persaud served GECOM for a number of years, during which he served in various capacities, including Public Relations Officer (PRO) and Deputy Chief Election Officer.
The CEO commenced his testimony yesterday before the CoI by providing details about his experience and the country’s electoral processes.
In his response to questions directed to him by Chota, Persaud shared that when he assumed the post of PRO with GECOM, one of his first undertakings was to resuscitate GECOM’s website. “Which required that I research all the processes associated with national registration as well as the conduct of general, regional and local government elections,” he said.
To carry out the duties of the PRO, Persaud said, he was required to have “comprehensive” knowledge to the processes.
Among the duties he held was assistant to the Chairman of the Commission. “…I was directly involved in the deliberations associated with policy development as it relates to the management of elections and the registration processes,” he told the CoI.
In fact, he said, during this period he was “directly” responsible for all preparations pertaining to management of elections.
Persaud provided a breakdown of the process to be followed before an election is held in Guyana, which includes the extraction of a preliminary list of electors. He also detailed the process followed at polling stations on Election Day.
It was while he was providing these details that Persaud was asked who served as the Region Four Returning Officer and he said Clairmont Mingo. While he told the CoI that he knew Mingo since 2006 he was clear to point out that they had no “relationship”.
According to Persaud, there is no provision which allows a Returning Officer to make a declaration if the counting of ballots is not completed and Statements of Poll are not tallied. “There is no such provision,” he said.
After the declaration of the results, if any party has any disagreement, Persaud said, there is provision for the agent of a party, who may have concerns, to request a recount. “It could be a partial recount or a total recount of the ballots for the region. But such a request must be submitted to the returning officer no later than 12 o’clock on the day after the declaration was made,” he explained.
After making a declaration, a Returning Officer is required to take the completed election return to the Chief Election Officer. The CEO is then required to use those returns to compile the results for the entire country and to submit his/her collation of those results in written and electronic form for declaration.
At the time of the 2020 elections, Lowenfield was the CEO. His deputy was Roxanne Myers, whose contract like Lowenfield’s was terminated.
