GECOM footage from Ashmins building can’t be found, CEO testifies

Chief Election Officer Vishnu Persaud was the first witness to appear before the Presidential CoI into the 2020 general and regional elections when public hearings commenced yesterday

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.