A Commission of Inquiry (CoI) has concluded that former Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield; former Deputy Chief Elections Officer, Roxanne Myers; and Ex-Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, attempted to rig the March 2020 General and Regional Elections in Guyana. The report, released on April 26, 2023, described the officials’ actions as “shockingly brazen” and accused them of attempting to corrupt the legally prescribed process for counting, ascertaining, and tabulating votes, as well as the true declaration of election results.
The commission, appointed by Guyana’s President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, began hearings in November 2022 and concluded its sittings in February 2023. The inquiry heard testimony from 39 witnesses, and its terms of reference included investigating attempts to undermine and frustrate the election process in March 2020.
The report stated that Lowenfield, Myers, and Mingo had attempted to steal the election and went against their statutory duties as election officials. The commissioners also noted that their actions could have had dire consequences for the country and called for appropriate legal action to be taken against the trio.
The March 2020 elections were highly controversial and were subject to a protracted legal battle over the validity of the results. The Commission of Inquiry was established to investigate the conduct of the election officials involved in the process. The report’s release is likely to have significant political implications in Guyana, where the issue of electoral integrity remains a highly contentious issue.
The Commission of Inquiry was chaired by Stanley John, a retired Justice of Appeal, Legal Consultant, and Non-Resident Justice of Appeal from the Turks and Caicos Islands. Other commissioners included Carl A. Singh, OR; CCH, who is a former Chancellor (ag) of the Judiciary of Guyana, and Godfrey Smith, SC, who served as a Justice of Appeal (ad hoc).
