A PPP/C polling agent testifying in the long-running 2020 elections fraud trial has conceded under cross-examination that she did not compare a key Statement of Poll again after handing it to PPP/C official Zulfikar Mustapha, and could not say how the document she passed on was produced.
The testimony
Shameika Henry gave evidence before Principal Magistrate Faith McGusty about the Diamond polling station and the Statement of Poll for ballot box 4134, according to Guyana Standard. Questioned by defence attorney Eusi Anderson, she said she compared the documents at the polling station before leaving, but not again after the handover, and that she “did not have access to it following the handover.”
Henry told the court the presiding officer filled out the original Statement of Poll in pen, but that the copy given to her was not in pen ink. She could not recall whether the document she gave Mustapha was handwritten in pen or produced some other way, and said she did not know whether he examined it under ultraviolet light because she left soon after.
Why it matters
The defence’s line of questioning focused on what happened to the party’s copy of the Statement of Poll after it left the polling station and passed into the hands of a senior PPP/C official. How that document was handled, and whether it can be verified, will be for the court to weigh.
Who is on trial
The accused include 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 staff Enrique Livan, Michelle Miller, Sheffern February and Denise Babb-Cummings. The charges stem from allegations of attempts to manipulate the March 2020 results. All of the accused are presumed innocent, and none of the allegations has been proven in court.
Henry’s cross-examination is expected to continue on October 27.
Leave a Reply