Registrar of the Supreme Court Sueanna Lovell, under cross-examination in the ongoing 2020 Election fraud trial on Thursday, told the court that she has no evidence that any of the accused tampered with, altered, or made markings on Statements of Poll (SOPs) and Statements of Recount (SORs) that were placed in her custody.
Lovell continued her testimony before Acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, where she was questioned by defence attorneys Eusi Anderson, Dexter Todd and Nigel Hughes.
During his cross-examination, Anderson asked Lovell whether she had examined the SOPs and SORs for reconciliation purposes during the five years they remained in her possession. She replied that she had not.
The witness was also asked whether she had any evidence that any of the defendants had signed the SOPs in her possession. Lovell said she did not know whether the defendants had signed the documents and noted that she was unfamiliar with their signatures.
She also told the court that she had no evidence that any of the defendants tampered with, edited, or wrote on the SOPs using either black or blue ink.
Attorney Dexter Todd focused his cross-examination on the nature of the documents that were handed over to the Registrar pursuant to a court order.
Lovell acknowledged that some of the bundles contained carbon copies. When asked whether it was her understanding that the court order required the collection of original SOPs and SORs, she said she believed that was the intention of the order.
Todd then questioned whether GECOM had complied with the order by handing over original documents. Lovell responded that she could not say whether there had been non-compliance, noting that original documents had been handed over, at least in part.
Attorney Nigel Hughes questioned the witness about the chain of custody and handling of the documents.
Lovell told the court that former Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield was present during one of the handover exercises, but no representatives of competing political parties were present.
She also confirmed that no video recordings were made documenting every aspect of the receipt and subsequent storage of the election documents.
When asked whether she could speak to the authenticity of the documents handed over to her, Lovell said she could not. She further acknowledged that she never conducted any examination of the documents for authentication purposes.
During the afternoon session, Inspector Nigel Stephens continued identifying certified copies of Statements of Poll from the March 2020 General and Regional Elections.
The trial will continue on June 19.
Several individuals remain before the court in connection with the March 2020 General and Regional Elections, including former Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, former Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield, former Deputy Chief Elections Officer Roxanne Myers, former PNCR Chairperson Volda Lawrence, PNCR activist Carol Smith-Joseph, and GECOM employees Enrique Livan, Michelle Miller, Sheffern February and Denise Babb-Cummings.
The defendants collectively face 19 conspiracy charges stemming from allegations that attempts were made to manipulate the results of the March 2020 General and Regional Elections.
