Former Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Information Technology Manager Aneal Giddings on this afternoon testified before Magistrate Faith McGusty at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court in the high-profile election fraud matter involving nine persons charged in connection with the 2020 General and Regional Elections.
Giddings detailed the processing of Statements of Poll (SOPs), the handling of election data during a bomb threat and changes to declarations for Electoral District Four.
He told the court that SOPs were received through Presiding Officers, Deputy Returning Officers and Returning Officers before being sent to the Ashmin Building, which served as the command centre for the 2020 elections.
The SOPs were logged, scanned and copied, with the originals forwarded to the office of then Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield. Giddings said the figures were entered twice by separate officers, with discrepancies reviewed before the information was committed to the database.
The process was halted on March 5, 2020, following a bomb threat at the Ashmin Building.
Giddings testified that then Deputy Chief Election Officer Roxanne Myers instructed him to have the election data backed up to a flash drive. He said the database administrator prepared the backup, which he subsequently handed to Myers.
He also testified that he removed the server containing election data from the building, secured it in his personal vehicle and later returned it to the tabulation centre after being instructed to do so.
The court also heard evidence concerning Form 24 declarations.
Giddings said that on March 7, 2020, he received 20 declarations from then GECOM Public Relations Officer Yolanda Ward and was instructed to publish them on the Commission’s website.
On March 14, he received replacement declarations for Electoral District Four. He testified that he observed changes in the figures, including approximately 400 fewer APNU votes and about 100 fewer PPP/C votes, as well as a reduction in spoilt ballots.
He also noted that the March 14 General Election declaration did not contain a field for destroyed ballots, which appeared on the earlier declaration.
Giddings said he recognised what appeared to be the signature and official stamp of District Four Returning Officer Claremont Mingo on both documents, although he acknowledged that he had never personally seen Mingo sign.
He further testified that on July 22, 2020, he received instructions from Ward to remove all declarations from GECOM’s website.
During his evidence on the national recount, Giddings said District Four showed a significant shift when compared with the earlier results, with approximately 19,000 fewer APNU votes and 3,500 additional PPP votes.
Giddings is expected to continue his testimony on Tuesday.
