Poll officer denies juggling figures
Returning Officer of Region Two (Essequibo/Pomeroon) for the 1997 general elections, Ramjeet Singh yesterday conceded that his report, tendered in court as evidence, had several inaccuracies which he explained to be typographical errors. Leader of the National Independent Party, attorney-at-law Saphier Hussain, resumed cross-examination of the witness yesterday in the Esther Perreira election petition hearing before Justice Claudette Singh. As was requested by Hussain on Tuesday, the witness produced his copy of the report and a statement from Guyana Stores Ltd showing that he had had the binding of the report done there. However, he could not produce the six names of the persons in Region Two who had received duplicate voter ID cards. Asked to explain the red ink markings in his copy of the report, the witness said that he did not have a chance to check the accuracy of the report at the time it was produced because the Elections Commission needed it urgently. It was while checking his copy, he said, that he realised that several errors were made, and he had corrected these in red ink. It was suggested by Hussain that he had juggled the figures to make them look correct, but the witness denied this. He further denied that he had arbitrarily changed figures in his report. He explained that he had consulted with his clerk before making the corrections. Questioned on the issue of funds to run the elections, Singh said that he had managed the elections with funds allocated to him by the Elections Commission. He said he had submitted a financial report to the commission but could not remember the date when he had done so. Hussain again questioned the witness on food distribution in Region Two prior to the 1997 elections. On Tuesday, Hussain had suggested to Singh that before the elections, a government minister had accompanied officials of the Social Impact Amelioration Programme (SIMAP) to the region for the purpose of distributing food hampers. Reading the Representation of the People Act pertaining to the holding of elections to the witness at yesterday's hearing, Hussain asked the witness if he knew that under the said Act, the sharing or promise of food or other items amounted to bribery. The witness maintained that he did not know that any minister or member of the PPP/Civic had distributed food relief. In her petition, Perreira who is represented by Senior Counsel Peter Britton, is asking the court to find the results of the 1997 general elections null and void. She has named the representatives of the lists of political parties which contested the elections and the CEO as the respondents.
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