How the GECOM CEO unilaterally made votes appear and disappear

Guyana’s Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield may be remembered in history as “The Conjurer” for his act of conjuring thousands of ghost votes and unlawfully subtracting thousands of valid votes all with the aim of granting a false win of the March 2, 2020 Elections to the A Partnership For National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Coalition. Prior to the national vote recount, Lowenfield sought to present on two occasions, reports to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), which included patently false results, where Region Four was concerned. Then, following the recount, though he is statutorily mandated to adhere to the directives of the GECOM and its Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh, on three consecutive occasions, Lowenfield disregarded direct orders and produced three official ‘final’ election reports using falsified figures.

Keith Lowenfield, a former Army official, was unanimously appointed to his post back in March of 2014, replacing the previous CEO, Gocool Boodoo. On his appointment, both the then People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) government and then opposition APNU+AFC showed full support and confidence in the new CEO. An article done by Kaieteur News on Lowenfield’s appointment in 2014 had quoted the then major parliamentary opposition party as saying that, “APNU is confident that during Mr. Lowenfield’s tenure as Chief Elections Officer there will be non-controversial and properly administered elections.” The duties of the CEO are captured in the Representation of the People Act (ROPA) 1:03. The CEO controls the GECOM Secretariat and acts as the primary point of contact between the Commission and the staff members of the Secretariat, whose activities include the registration of registrants; the distribution of ID Cards; and the provision of information and guidance on electoral operational matters to community organisations and other stakeholders. Moreover, at the end of every electoral process, the CEO, as statutorily obligated under Section 96 of the ROPA, has to complete a simple calculation of fixed figures to determine the number of votes cast in totality, the total number of valid votes for each party that contested the election and most importantly, the allocation of parliamentary seats. That calculation is then given in the form of a report to the Chair and Commissioners, as spelt out in Article 177 (2) (b) of the Constitution.

( Kaieteur News )