Dr Anthony details recount verification process in ongoing 2020 Elections trial

Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony on Tuesday testified in the ongoing trial into the 2020 General and Regional Elections, outlining the verification process during the national recount.

In his sworn testimony, Dr Anthony told the court that during the March 2020 elections, he served as a People’s Progressive Party (PPP) candidate, as well as a counting and election agent.

He explained that he was later appointed as an agent during the national recount which was held at the at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.

He described the recount process in detail, noting that on May 7, 2020, at approximately15:00 hrs ballot boxes from all 10 electoral districts were recounted across 10 counting stations. Once a count was completed, Dr Anthony told the court a Statement of Recount was generated and sent to the tabulation room, where he was stationed.

According to Dr Anthony, officials from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) displayed and entered figures into a spreadsheet while political parties were simultaneously given copies of the Statements of Recount to verify accuracy.

“We had a copy of the statement of recount that was issued to all parties, so when a statement of recount was put up by GECOM we would look and see what we had were matching with what was displayed on the screen,” Dr Anthony testified.

He emphasised that he personally checked the figures being projected and confirmed that they matched the documents in his possession. The numbers were called out by GECOM officials and then entered into a spreadsheet, with each Statement of Recount displayed for approximately 20 minutes.

Dr Anthony said the figures consistently matched.

At the end of each day’s tabulation, he further stated that a statement from the counting stations was read outlining the process carried out. He explained that a Certificate of Recount was then compiled by GECOM officials for each district.

“I witnessed that and in fact my signature was on the certificate of recount. Before I sign you have the officials of GECOM who sign that statement as a true and correct statement. Once I certified that those numbers were accurate I then signed,” he said.

According to Dr Anthony, the certificates of recount included a breakdown of votes received by each party, along with sections for GECOM officials and party agents to sign.

Dr. Anthony confirmed that he signed all 10 Certificates of Recount, representing the country’s 10 electoral regions.

After signing, he said he collected authenticated copies of the Certificates of Recount and corresponding spreadsheets on behalf of the PPP. These documents were stamped and signed by GECOM supervisors before being handed over.

 Dr. Anthony testified that he later submitted the documents to the PPP/C chief elections agent which was Zulfikar Mustapha.

Before Tuesday proceedings wrapped up Dr Anthony was cross examined by defence attorneys Nigel Hughes and Eusi Anderson.

The trial is set to continue on Wednesday, April 29, 2026.

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