From Stabroek to Kingston: Changing an election result

Mar 17, 2020 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

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Mr. Clairmont Mingo, returning officer for Region 4 declared the 2020 election results on Thursday March 5. He read the declaration from the balcony inside the Ashmin’s’ building on Hadfield Street, Stabroek, which was the command centre for GECOM with numbers that showed a victory for APNU+AFC which that entity and GECOM, minus the three PPP commissioners) accepted.
Preparations were underway to swear in David Granger as president. The Chronicle published Mingo’s declaration. Moses Nagamootoo, accepting Mingo’s delivery, wrote in the Chronicle that the APNU+AFC had won by 8000 votes and secured 33 seats.
An injunction was filed against Mingo’s official proclamation of the results, and was granted by the courts. Eight days after his first announcement, Mingo made a second at the head office of GECOM on High Street, Kingston. His numbers of Friday, March were not identical with his Thursday, March 5 statistics. They should have been since he tabulated the statements of poll (SOPs) and simply waited for the court to rule to proceed.
He did proceed in Kingston and came up with numbers not identical to what he first made public. The Chronicle again, published the results, this time the Kingston one and Nagamootoo wrote once more of an ANPU+AFC victory this time using the Kingston statistics. The obvious and compelling question is how does one account for the variation from the time Mingo left Stabroek and went to Kingston, a journey that is separated by a week.
Mingo’s first pronouncement of the figures caused the GECOM personnel to prepare a schedule for swearing-in. The court blocked that but on Friday last GECOM again announced a winner and another attempt at swearing-in was to be planned. It did not happen because we were informed by the Barbadian Prime Minister told that Granger requested CARICOM assistance in the preparation of ballot recounts.
Confusions are swirling like tsunamic waves. Mingo made his final declaration last Friday. Mingo also refused a request for a Region 4 ballot recount. But Granger chose not to be sworn in but instead CARICOM will assist with a recount. Why the request by Granger? No matter what perspective you put on his action, the stark reality is that he chose not to be sworn in but wants a ballot recount.
You can say that Granger has delayed his presidential accession because he wants full transparency so his victory would not be plagued with rumours, controversies and hate. But the confusions won’t go away. This same Granger never commented in his capacity as presidential candidate on what GECOM was doing from midday, Wednesday March 4 when a smooth process of tabulating the SOPS was abated and one eerie thing after another happened that in the opinion of this column the world has never seen before.
To say it was a circus is a poor depiction. Some of the events were; the tabulation was stopped, when it resumed the SOPs were not used and instead a spreadsheet with questionable numbers were being called out. Mr. Mingo fell ill. He substituted someone whom the court was told did not have the legal status to act for Mingo. The tabulation was resumed by two clerks who needed a rest. Then another GECOM staffer carried away the flash drive and was later found in suspicious circumstances in a nearby room.
The Chief Elections Officer came out of a room, gave assurances which was openly contradicted by his deputy, Roxanne Myers. The GECOM chairman was housed in a room for hours without anyone knowing what happened to her or what she was doing there. The police cleared the command centre of all non-GECM personnel and the SOPs were left in the building.
Mingo continued the tabulation a week later but strayed so far away from the Chief Judge’s instructions that the heads of mission from the ABC/EU countries walked out. The climax occurred in Kingston where violence met rigging. Mingo did his nonsense again but this time APNU supporters were in the building harassing election candidates from the other parties and the media. These images were shown around the world.
In this concatenation of events, presidential candidate, Granger said not a word. But his son-in-law and one of the AFC leaders, Dominic Gaskin did. He said he is uncomfortable with Mingo’s declaration and he does not think Mingo’s results are a true reflection of Region 4’s votes.
Finally, David Granger got involved. He called the Barbadian Prime Minister and asked for supervision in a total recount of the ballots for the 2020 general election. Why? Readers expect an answer. Mr. Granger knows he will not be able to govern with Mingo’s figures.

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