2020 Guyanese general election

The SOPs were transmitted to Guyana's capital, Georgetown, and the ballot boxes were transported to the headquarters of GECOM. A tabulation process then began, to consolidate all 2,339 SOPs across Guyana's ten electoral districts. This tabulation process involved GECOM displaying each SOP, and all contesting parties confirming that the SOP was accurate. Once this check was complete, the SOPs numbers were entered into the overall vote total, from which a President and National Assembly would be installed.[22]

By the evening of 3 March, nine of the ten districts had been tabulated successfully. A large number of SOPs for the final (and largest) district had also been tabulated. The results showed the PPP/C leading by around 51,000 votes.[25] The process then started to derail once it became clear that the Granger government was heading for defeat. Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo said he felt unwell and was taken to hospital, resulting in the tabulation being suspended for several hours while a replacement for Mingo was sought. That replacement then felt unwell so the tabulation did not restart. Meanwhile, a data entry clerk was found attempting to load SOPs using a suspect laptop and flash drive.[26][27]

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Karen Cummings, arrived at the tabulation centre, summoned all foreign observers and threatened to revoke their accreditation.[28] The British High Commissioner Greg Quinn and the former Barbadian Prime Minister Owen Arthur opposed these threats as inappropriate and possibly illegal. Cummings then left the building.[28] On the morning of 5 March, police sought to clear the building, saying there was a bomb threat, but many representatives of the political parties and international observers refused to leave.[29]

In the evening of 5 March, Mingo appeared at the top of a staircase, surrounded by police,[30] and read out purported results for the final electoral district.[31] These results did not match the SOPs of the political parties or of the local and international observers.[22] Agents of the political parties raised their voices during Mr. Mingo's attempt to declare the results, but he persisted.[22] Despite heavy criticism from party and international observers for the lack of transparency,[32][33] results were released to the media by GECOM showing that the APNU+AFC coalition had won by 59,077 votes, a result that would give them a one-seat majority in the National Assembly.[34]

The results released by GECOM came under further scrutiny due to the results of Region 4 bearing the signature of Volda Lawrence, the Minister of Health in the APNU+AFC government, instead of just the stamp and signature of the Returning Officer of that region.[35] A joint statement from the American, British and Canadian governments and the European Union questioned the credibility of the Region 4 results.[36] The Commonwealth, Organization of American States, the European Union and Carter Center stated clearly that "The tabulation of results for the election in Region 4 was interrupted and remains incomplete... the result of these elections cannot be credibly declared."[37]

Later on 5 March, Granger addressed his supporters and thanked them for giving him another term.[38] However, the PPP/C obtained a court injunction preventing the Region 4 returning officer from declaring the results until further verification had taken place.[39]

APNU+AFC continued preparations to swear in Granger.[40]

On 11 March, the Supreme Court annulled the results of Region 4, ruled that a partial recount in the election must take place, ordering that Region Four continue verifying votes. According to the BBC, "Judge Roxane George also ruled the electoral body should not declare a winner before the recount is finished."[41] She ordered that the tabulation be completed using official SOPs in the presence of party agents.[42]

When the tabulation resumed on 12 March, Mingo attempted to read results directly from a spreadsheet. In the words of the European Union Observer Mission, this was "in blatant defiance of the Chief Justice's explicit call for transparency and the use of SOPs".[22] Sustained objections from the political parties forced an adjournment[22] while the Secretary-General of the 54-nation Commonwealth added to calls to adhere to the Chief Justice's rulings, stating that to do otherwise would be "a serious violation of the fundamental political values of the Commonwealth"[43] When the process resumed on 13 March, Mingo read from a set of purported SOPs that were not visible to anybody else present.[22] These SOPs did not match the SOPs in the possession of party agents or any of the local and international observers.[22]

In protest at the violation of the Chief Justice's instructions, the Ambassadors of the United States, European Union, United Kingdom and Canada walked out of the tabulation centre and made it clear that any declaration based on the results being announced by Mingo would not be seen as internationally credible.[44] Despite this, Mingo persisted and declared unverified results on the night of the 13 March.[45]

The Chair of CARICOM and Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, led a team of five Caribbean Prime Ministers to mitigate the crisis on 11 and 12 March, meeting with Granger and opposition leader Bharrat Jagdeo. Following the development at the tabulation centre, on 14 March Mottley announced that, according to Stabroek News, "an independent high-level Caribbean Community team is [set] to supervise a full recount of the ballots cast in all ten regions at Guyana's elections based on an agreement by President David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo."[46]

A five-person high-level team was rapidly assembled and arrived in Guyana on 15 March. GECOM prepared for the recount to start. However, an election candidate (in the concurrent regional elections) from the APNU+AFC party obtained a court objection blocking the recount and the CARICOM team left on 17 March.[47]

Prime Minister Mottley stated that "it is clear that there are forces in Guyana that do not want to see the votes recounted."[48]

International condemnation of the Granger Government grew, with the United States[49] and European Union making it clear that a Government based on the Mingo declaration of March 13 would not be seen as legitimate, and that sanctions would be placed on anyone who benefitted from that declaration.[50]

The Government barred several international observers including the Carter Center,[51] over strong objections from the US[52] and Canadian Governments.[53]

After almost two months, the recount started on 6 May.[54] The Government placed strict limits on the number of recount stations that would be allowed, citing COVID-19 precautions.[55]

As a result, the planned 25 days for the recount was insufficient, but the recount was completed on the 8 June.[56]

The results were publicly available, and almost exactly matched the SOPs in the possession of all the political parties and the observers. The results showed a victory for the PPP/C's presidential candidate with the PPP/C winning 33 seats in the National Assembly. APNU+AFC won 31 seats, and three of the smaller parties shared 1 seat in accordance with the agreement they made before the election.[57]

Statements of Recount (SORs) were produced to mirror the SOPs from Election Day. These SORs provided proof that the results announced by Mingo on March 13 had inflated APNU+AFC votes by 19,116 votes and reduced PPP/C votes by 3,689.[57][58]

According to Guyana's constitution, Irfaan Ali was deemed president-elect, and his swearing in should follow the formal declaration of the winner by GECOM.[59]

U.S. imposed sanctions on Guyana on 15 July 2020, citing that "Visa permits have been revoked for the persons complicit in undermining Guyana's democratic values."[70]

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called for Granger's resignation. Tariq Ahmed and Liz Sugg, UK foreign office ministers also made calls for his resignation. Canada said that it would use all tools at its disposal to ensure peaceful transfer of power. Ralph Gonsalves, Prime minister of Saint Vincent and Grenadines and OAS also called for the Guyanese President to accept the outcome of the recount.[71]

The State Government of Roraima, Brazil acknowledged Irfaan Ali as the new Guyanese President. It expressed concerns about electoral instability in Guyana.[72]

The US visa restrictions were viewed as "Trump administration's interference into Guyanese elections" by Congressman Hakeem Jeffries and Congresswoman Yvette Clarke.[73]

On 20 July Acting Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire ruled that as the Caribbean Court of Justice had endorsed the recount of votes that the results declared on 13 March could not be reinstated. She said that "Lowenfield is not a lone ranger and has to come under GECOM and its chair." She also said that the court could not invalidate the election results, as the matter had been adjudicated at the upper courts."[74]

On 30 July 2020, the Court of Appeals, based on petition filed by APNU+AFC Supporter Misenga Jones, ruled unanimously that the results of recount of the elections were legitimate and should be used to declare winner of the election.[75]

On 2 August 2020, several days after the Court of Appeal ruled that the results of the recount should stand as the official results, PPP/C leader Irfaan Ali was sworn in as president and Mark Phillips as Prime Minister.[76]