Guyana’s Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Vishnu Persaud in taking the stand as the first witness in the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the March 2020 Elections, told the Commission that the security footage from Ashmins Building which served as the Office for Region Four Returning Officer (RO) is missing.

“Nobody seems to know when the cameras were removed, nor where the footage might be,” Mr Persaud told the three-member Commission chaired by Retired Justice of Appeal, Stanley John as he responded to a series of questions by the Commission’s lead Attorney, Trinidad and Tobago Senior Counsel Sophia Chote.

Mr Persaud said upon enquiring about the security footage after he took office, he was informed that the security cameras were installed in the Ashmins Building ahead of the March 2, 2020 Elections upon the instruction of the then Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield.

He said information received upon his appointment as CEO suggests that a private service provider had installed the cameras, but it is unclear when the cameras were removed.

The Ashmin’s building was rented for the Region Four elections office.

The CEO also told the Commission that computers at GECOM’s Secretariat were also wiped clean.

“When I assumed office, in the office of the Chief Elections Officer…all of the computers were wiped clean,” he further disclosed. 

The Chief Elections Officer was the first witness to take the stand as Commission commenced public hearing into the highly contentious General and Regional Elections.

In the initial stage of his testimony, Mr Persaud, who was appointed CEO by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) in December 2021, detailed aspects of the country’s electoral process from the compilation of the Preliminary List of Electors to Polling Day, as he responded to questions posed by both the Counsel and Commission.

In identifying Clairmont Mingo as the then Region Four Returning Officer, Mr Persaud said based on established protocols, the results of the votes cast at the regional level could not have been declared without the completion of the tabulation process.

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