Introduction

Following hours of chaos on March 13th, District Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo bawled out a second fraudulent declaration for Demerara-Mahaica even though earlier that day Chief Justice Roxane George had issued specific instructions on the use of Statements of Poll (SoPs) which he failed to comply with.

With the controversy gathering steam on March 14 and contempt of court proceedings being filed against Mingo over his second declaration, CARICOM Chair, Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley intervened that day with an agreement between President David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo  for a recount of the votes of all 10 districts.

In the meanwhile following an approach by a supporter of APNU+AFC to the Guyana Court of Appeal to prevent the declaration of the recount result,  that court on June 22nd issued an order seeking to insert the word `valid’ into provisions governing how the Chief Election Officer (CEO) decides the winner of the Presidency.

This has seen Chief Election Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield inexplicably junking 25% of the votes and presenting a result in favour of APNU+AFC.

However, this latest court action plays out   the final decision will be left to  GECOM and particularly its Chair, Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh

With Chief Justice Roxane George ruling on March 11th that the March 5th  declaration of results for District Four by Returning Officer (RO) Clairmont Mingo, following the March 2nd general and regional elections was null and void, Mingo was bound by the court to return to the verification process to allow observers and party agents to witness the tabulation of votes.