Georgetown: The Chairwoman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Justice (rt’d) Claudette Singh is advocating for Monday’s ruling of Chief Justice Roxane George to be upheld and the appeal against it be dismissed.
The applicant Misenga Jones, an agent of APNU+AFC is challenging the constitutionality of the order which provided for a recount of all votes cast on March 02 and whether the declarations made before the recount should stand.
The Chief Justice had validated the recount of ballots cast on March 2 and invalidated all other elections report made before the recount started.
The GECOM Chairs attorney, Kim Kyte-Thomas in her written response to the Court of Appeal stated “…the Appeal filed herein is frivolous, vexatious and amounts to an abuse of the Court’s process.”
In her written submission, she argues that the appeal lacks merit and ought to be dismissed since the findings and decision of the Chief Justice represent the long-established jurisprudence of electoral laws and the electoral regime in respect to the issues raised before the court.
She reasoned that the issues raised were heard and determined before, and in keeping with the res judicata principle, the application should not be entertained by the Court of Appeal.
Kyte-Thomas argued that the recent decisions of the Court of Appeal and the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) dealt with the same issues being raised again, and so the appeal seeks to re-litigate issues already determined.
The Chief Justice in her ruling Monday made it pellucidly clear, Kyte-Thomas argues, that “far from nullifying Order 60 and the recount process, in my view the CCJ explicitly endorsed it”.
Further at paragraph 60, the Chief Justice had stated that “both courts had pronounced on the issue and as such she could not rule that Order 60 was invalidated”.
“It is respectfully submitted that the Court of Appeal and the Caribbean Court of Justice have already determined the validity of the Recount process and the recount Order and found that the process was transparent and in keeping with the Constitutional powers of GECOM as well as the legislative framework of our electoral system,” Kyte-Thomas stated.
She noted that in the recount process, the District Coordinators for each district signed off the Certificates of Tabulation which were also signed by the stakeholders. The District Coordinators were equivalent to the Returning Officers provided for under the electoral laws.
Regarding the role of the Chief Elections Officer, she argued that nothing that the Officer does in relation to the elections is exempt from the direction, instruction, or supervision of the Commission.
“He cannot act arbitrarily or as a ‘lone ranger’, in the words of the Honourable Chief Justice but is subject to the Commission, the Constitution, and the laws of Guyana.”
Kyte-Thomas will present oral arguments when the case comes up on Saturday at 10:00h.
The Chief Justice in her definitive ruling said that GECOM must declare the result of the elections of March 02, 2020, only from the data garnered from the national Vote Recount and that any irregularities would have to be addressed in an election petition.
She also ruled that the Chief Elections Officer is subject to the direction and control of the Commission in submitting his report to GECOM.
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