CLOSE to three months after it was shelved, the contempt matter in the case Reeaz Holladar v. Returning Officer for Region 4 Clairmont Mingo and others, will be heard by Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire on Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 11:00hrs, via Zoom.
The contempt-of-court matter, which will be heard in the High Court, was filed by the late Reeaz Holladar, a private citizen, over the alleged failure of the Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Returning Officer to adhere to the orders handed down by the High Court on March 11, 2020.
The Chief Justice had ruled that the declaration of votes made by said Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo on March 5 was unlawful, on the grounds that there was substantial non-compliance with Section 84 (1) of the Representation of the People Act when the Statements of Poll (SOPs) for District 4 (as Region Four is called for elections purposes) were tabulated. She then ordered that the verification process, which was interrupted, be resumed or restarted, and that the SOPs be tabulated and projected in the presence of persons entitled to be there under the law.
When the contempt matter came up in the High Court for the first time on March 13, it was alleged that while the tabulation process was recommenced on March 12, the Returning Officer had resorted to the use of a spreadsheet for the tabulation of the votes in the reported absence of the SOPs, a move which resulted in major objections from agents attached to some political parties. The disagreement later resulted in the tabulation process being suspended for the day, and Holladar moving to file Contempt of Court proceedings on behalf of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).
But in the RO’s defence, Attorney-at-Law Robin Hunte and Senior Counsel Neil Boston told the Chief Justice that their client was adhering to the orders of the High Court, despite attempts by some to derail the process. But in responding to a series of questions posed by Justice George-Wiltshire, Boston explained that the Returning Officer had placed the contents of the SOPs and the polling station number on a screen for the duly-appointed candidates and observers to view.
The Chief Justice had then made it clear that the Returning Officer must produce the SOPs during the tabulation process.
While noting that it was not for the representatives of the various political parties and observers to disrupt the process by raising concerns after concerns, Justice George-Wilshire had said that they were entitled to view the SOPs, in accordance with the Representation of the People Act, Chapter 1:03. A second declaration by the Region Four Returning Officer was made on March 13, 2020. In a separate court case later that month, the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield, while acknowledging that the initial declaration made by Mingo was set aside by Chief Justice, said during the final tabulation exercise, SOPs were used at all material times.
Source: https://issuu.com/guyanachroniclee-paper/docs/guyana_chronicle_e-paper_6-10-2020