Credit for deterring attempts at electoral fraud during the 2020 general elections was focused in the media on the local and international observers, the foreign diplomats, the media, then opposition politicians, Caricom leaders, those who lobbied foreign governments to reject fraudulent result, and the court, among others. Virtually no attention and or credit or recognition was given to the counting agents of the political parties who monitored the verification of the SOPs and helped to expose the attempted fraud. The counting agents watchfully monitored the aggregate count with eagle eyes cross checking every SOP read by each regional returning officer against the numbers on their duplicate copies that were posted at the door of each polling place. The counting agents played a most critical role in discovering and identifying discrepancies and exposing the attempted fraud, bringing it to the attention of the observers and the party leaders.
This writer (reporter) was at Ashmin building counting center from March 2, 2020 onwards and witnessed first hand the shenanigans of the region 4 returning officer. Among the individuals observed at the Ashmin Counting Center daily monitoring the count were: Azeena Baksh, Vindya Persaud, Priya Manickchand, Susan Rodrigues, Mae Toussaint, Sasenarine Singh, Peter Ramsaroop, Charles Ramson, Sonia Pariag, Indar Deodat, among a few others. Among the local observers inside the counting certification or verification center from the PSC were Kit Nascimento, Gerry Gouveia, and Roshan Khan. All of the above, as well as agents of other parties and foreign observers, were in an inner room on the left side as one entered the Ashmin building. Anil Nandlall, Bharrat Jagdeo, and Irfaan Ali made a daily presence on the outer section inside the building. Nandlall was there daily more for his legal skills rather than as an agent involved in certification or verification of the count of the SOPs. Jagdeo and Ali were there to provide solidarity to the party’s agents and to express grievances against attempted fraud and to address the media. Seeraj Dharamkumar was present daily inside Ashmin in the inner room or on the outer section to give support to colleagues. Lennox Shuman and Dr Vishnu Bandhu were there regularly. Chris Ram, Timothy Jonas, among others, were also seen at various times and were also in court; they too helped to save democracy. They too deserve recognition for salvaging the will of voters.
Norman McLean was there occasionally to give support to the PSC colleagues as were a number of other individuals from that organization. There were also counting agents of other political parties (ANUG, URP, etc) that contested the elections. There were also PNC observers and agents. Members of Guyana AmCham had a presence as observers in the verification room. Besides the local observers, there were international observers, including former President Jimmy Carter’s grandson Jason, who had a daily presence the week after March 2. The diplomats from the ABCE countries visited the Ashmin building almost daily speaking out against fraud.
This writer was at Ashmin daily observing proceedings. Besides being at the Ashmin building, this writer was at all of the press conferences related to the attempted rigging and occasionally at the court house on judicial hearings pertaining to the fairness of the count or attempted fraud. This writer was also present at the press conference when the Foreign Minister Ms Cummings threatened to withdraw credentials of international observers. Everyone protested and volunteered to return them. The former Barbadian PM took his credential badge from around his neck and returned it to Ms Cummings who refused to accept it.
The counting agents are commended for their work exposing skullduggery. The agents, except those from the minor parties, were deservedly rewarded with political positions and or lucrative arrangements.