Section 84 of the Representation of the People Act is quite clear. It requires the Returning Officer—in the case of District Four, Clairmont Mingo—in the presence of persons entitled to be present to “ascertain the total votes cast in favour of each list in the district by adding up the votes recorded in favour of the list in accordance with the Statements of Poll, and thereupon publicly declare the votes recorded for each list of candidates.” This procedure to “ascertain the total votes cast” for Region Four “in accordance with the Statements of Poll” was not followed but the Returning Officer declared phantom votes anyway, which showed the APNU+AFC winning the elections by about 7,000 of the said phantom votes. Statements of Poll for Region 4, signed by Presiding Officers, released by the Leader of the Opposition are claimed to show that the PPP won the elections by some 17,000 votes.
Upon the declaration, which no one present in the building was aware of or heard, the Returning Officer disappeared. So did the Chief Election Officer, Keith Lowenfield. The Chair of the Commission, Justice Claudette Singh, a former judge of distinction, who displayed exceptional courage in accepting the appointment and who said upon being sworn in, that “I will not sell my integrity for all the oil in Guyana,” has been incommunicado in the Region Four offices at High and Hadfield Streets and elsewhere, not having said or done anything publicly to prevent this blatant violation of the law by one of her senior officers.
