The trial into the 2020 General and Regional Elections continued on Wednesday at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, with testimony highlighting concerns over the use of a spreadsheet and the pace at which Statements of Poll (SOPs) were called during the tabulation process.
During the morning session, defence attorney Nigel Hughes made submissions challenging the qualifications of prosecution witness, Bibi Aneishaw Mohamed. A ruling on that issue has been set for February 26.
In the afternoon session, witness Sasenarine Singh resumed his testimony, detailing what he described as irregularities in the tabulation process in March 2020.
Singh told the court that the spreadsheet being projected did not display the registration numbers for the SOPs — a detail he said was critical for verification. He explained that while he attempted to compare what was being shown on screen with the carbon copies of SOPs in his possession, he struggled to keep up with the pace at which figures were being called.
At the time, he said former Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo had instructed GECOM staff, Sherfane February, to proceed with calling out the numbers, despite objections raised in the room.
Singh further testified that at one point the projector malfunctioned, but the calling of numbers continued.
He said he timed the process and observed that numbers were being called in rapid succession — in sets of five within approximately a minute.
“If she was at Statement of Poll number 500, she moved from 501, 502, 503 within a minute. It was a rapid pace,” Singh told the court, adding that he could not keep up with entering the data into his computer while verifying it against the SOPs he had in hand.
According to Singh, observers were unable to properly tabulate or input data during this period.
“We couldn’t enter the data, we couldn’t do any tabulation. It was just GECOM doing their own thing by calling numbers,” he said, describing the situation as “one-sided”, with Mingo and his team at the head table proceeding independently.
After about half an hour, Singh said the projector came back on. He later exited the building and was replaced by Sonia Parag. Upon returning home, he learned through news reports that the elections results had been announced.
Singh also testified that he was subsequently contacted by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), where he surrendered his phone and videos he had recorded over several days of the tabulation process. Portions of those videos were played in court for confirmation. However, this was disrupted due to technical difficulties.
Earlier in his testimony, Singh recalled that on March 4, 2020, former Deputy Chief Elections Officer Roxanne Myers informed the tabulation room that Mingo had fallen ill and was hospitalised. He maintained that the PPP’s SOPs remained in his sight at all times.
Singh had detailed that when Mingo returned the following day, he sought to accelerate the tabulation process using a spreadsheet — a move that drew strong objections from party representatives and observers. The process was eventually paused after GECOM Chair, Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh, urged empathy for exhausted staff and recommended sourcing additional personnel. A shift system was proposed to complete the remaining 879 SOPs, and the tabulation resumed the next day with former GECOM staff, Enrique Livan.
Nine individuals are currently before the court charged with conspiring to manipulate the election results in favour of APNU+AFC, thereby seeking to deny victory to the PPP.
Those charged include former government minister Volda Lawrence, former Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield, former Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, and former Deputy Chief Elections Officer Roxanne Myers, among others.
The controversy surrounding the March 2020 elections delayed the results for five months until PPP candidate Irfaan Ali was sworn in as President on 2 August 2020.
The trial continues throughout this week.
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