Nandlall urges police to probe APNU+AFC voter fraud claims

Sep 19, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall SC has written the Commissioner of Police (ag) Mr. Clifton Hicken requesting that a special investigation be launched into the data which he collected from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) in relation to the Opposition, A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU +AFC) claims of fraudulent voting at the March 2020 elections.

Attorney General Anil Nandlall SC

In a letter dated September 14, 2022, Nandlall wrote to Mr. Hicken asking that the Guyana Police Force (GPF) or any agency or person supervised by the GPF conduct a special probe into the voter impersonation claims. In the correspondence seen by this publication, Nandlall said, “I am forwarding these documents to you with a request from the Government of Guyana that a special investigation be launched by the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and such other agencies and or persons authorised and supervised by the GPF, to determine the veracity of the data contained in the documents as well as the authenticity of some of the documents themselves and all matters and actions of persons connected therewith.”

The letter to the acting Police Commissioner was sent days after Chairperson of GECOM, retired Justice Claudette Singh voted to release documents related to the claims by the Opposition that there were certain data that purport to prove the claims of fraud at the 2020 regional and general elections.

Commissioner of Police (ag) Mr. Clifton Hicken

The decision was made following deliberations at the weekly statutory meeting of GECOM. Nandlall had written to the Chairperson requesting the information. In his letter to the GECOM Chair, Nandlall noted that the APNU+AFC continues to peddle allegations that the deceased persons voted at the elections, that the elections were tainted by multiple voting and that persons who were overseas voted on elections day. Nandlall noted that the allegations continue to be peddled in the public domain without any proof. He said, “At the time and until now, the impression that [is conveyed by the APNU+AFC ] that is these documents and or data were generated by and obtained from the lawful repository of the specific information that is Immigration Department, the Guyana Police Force, and the General Registrar’s Office.”

Nandlall said it is necessary that GECOM releases the documents in its possession to clear the air. Since the documents were released from GECOM, Kaieteur News has seen documents that show a list of just over 500 names, more than 100 Guyanese who were said to be out of the jurisdiction during the 2020 elections were recorded as voted during the controversial polls; proving further, that some amount of irregularities would have occurred during the general elections. Added to this, the opposition has accused GECOM of failing to act on evidence of voter impersonation during the March 2020 elections.

During a recent press conference, APNU+AFC Shadow Minister of Legal Affairs, Roysdale Forde, SC, read the party’s statement in which he noted the reluctance by GECOM to look into the claims of voter fraud submitted by his party. Forde noted, “…Since the initial responses from the Chief Immigration Officer, GECOM has mysteriously ceased to seek confirmation of the other hundreds of names submitted by the Coalition.” “Even worse, Chairperson [Justice Claudette] Singh has declined to act on the irrefutable evidence of significant voter impersonation already in GECOM’s possession. This is a blatant dereliction…” But Kaieteur News understands that when the information was received by GECOM in 2020, nothing was done about it since arguments were that GECOM did not have investigative power and that the information was for an elections petition. Alexander said that Government Commissioners and the Chairwoman, Justice (retd.) Claudette Singh had voted against anything being done with the document.

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