Former GECOM IT Manager Aneal Giddings faced intense cross-examination on Wednesday over the handling of Statements of Poll (SOPs) inside the Ashmin’s building which served as the tabulation centre and his decision to remove the election server despite being instructed not to do so.
Giddings was questioned by defence attorney Nigel Hughes before Principal Magistrate Faith McGusty at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court as the March 2020 elections case continued.
Under questioning, Giddings confirmed that he remained inside the tabulation centre with database administrator Paul Persaud after other personnel were instructed to leave.
Giddings said he and Persaud were involved in securing and packaging election documents, including SOPs. Hughes questioned him about the circumstances surrounding the handling of the documents and whether SOPs could have been removed, switched or photographed.
Giddings said he could not recall certain details about specific documents and disputed some of the suggestions put to him.
The court heard that while Giddings and Persaud remained inside, there were no party representatives, scrutineers, observers, returning officers or senior GECOM officials present.
Hughes also showed Giddings video footage from the tabulation centre and the adjoining car park. Giddings identified himself, his vehicle and Persaud in the footage but said he could not identify some of the other individuals seen.
The defence further questioned Giddings about an unidentified man who appeared to interact with him at his vehicle and hand him something. Giddings said he could not recall what was exchanged if anything.
The cross-examination also returned to Giddings’ removal of the election server during the March 5 bomb threat.
Giddings acknowledged that he removed the server despite being instructed by then Deputy Chief Elections Officer Roxanne Myers not to do so. He kept the server in his vehicle for approximately two and a half hours and later acknowledged that he had no authority to keep it there.
Under questioning, Giddings also said the server was backed up hourly and that a backup had been made approximately an hour before he removed it. He further testified that there was no instantaneous cloud or off-site backup system and that he had previously recommended independent off-site storage to the Chief Election Officer.
Giddings also acknowledged that, following the bomb threat, Myers instructed him to back up the data to a flash drive, which he said he did.
He accepted that removing the server was unauthorised and amounted to a serious violation of his employment contract. He also acknowledged that the removal resulted in the tabulation process being halted and staff being sent home.
Giddings is expected to return to the witness stand on Thursday for further cross-examination.
