By Antonio Dey | HGP Nightly News|
GEORGETOWN, GUYANA — The high-stakes trial examining allegations of systemic electoral fraud arising from Guyana’s March 2020 General and Regional Elections continued on Monday at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, where large storage boxes of certified Statements of Poll (SOPs) were once again placed under intensive judicial scrutiny.
The criminal proceedings, presided over by Acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty, focused heavily on documented electoral evidence recovered from Districts (Regions) 4, 5, and 6. As the court further examined the chronological chain of custody and overall integrity of the key electoral assets, the state’s witness, Police Inspector Nigel Stephens of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters, resumed his testimony.
Taking to the stand, Inspector Stephens meticulously identified successive batches of certified SOP copies presented by the prosecution. He verified to the court that the individual records precisely corresponded with distinct verification markings, stamps, and signatures he had personally placed on them during an extensive cross-checking exercise conducted shortly after the controversial election cycle.
The court was reminded of the timeline governing the evidence. Inspector Stephens testified that he first encountered the original certified materials on May 29, 2021, during an official visit to the Supreme Court of Judicature, where they were securely handed over by Registrar Sueanna Lovell. That meeting initiated a highly structured forensic verification process involving thousands of individual Statements of Poll and Statements of Recount linked to the disputed elections.
Detailing the security protocols enacted to preserve the evidentiary trail, Stephens stated that upon completion of the verification process, the records were systematically locked inside specialized safes within a heavily guarded, designated area at CID headquarters. The witness maintained that security access remained tightly controlled, emphasizing that neither he nor any other authorized ranks tampered with the materials, and that the safes were never breached outside of statutory judicial procedures.
On Monday, prosecutors introduced further batches of certified SOPs covering the targeted regions. Inspector Stephens systematically reviewed the new folders, confirming under oath that the certification stamps and validation signatures matched his own handwriting.
The multi-defendant trial features several high-profile political figures and election bureaucrats facing a litany of conspiracy and misconduct charges. Among those on trial are:
- Keith Lowenfield (Former Chief Elections Officer)
- Roxanne Myers (Former Deputy Chief Elections Officer)
- Clairmont Mingo (Former Region 4 Returning Officer)
- Volda Lawrence (Former Minister of Public Health and PNCR Chairperson)
- Carol Smith-Joseph (PNCR Activist)
Former Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) employees Michelle Miller, Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, and Denise Babb-Cummings are also facing trial for their alleged participation in manipulating tabulation data during the 2020 polls. The trial will continue this week as the prosecution introduces additional documentary evidence to the court.
