Forensic Accountant Terrence Jaskaran told the court today that he repeatedly checked his work and maintained sole password access to the laptop used to analyse certified Statements of Poll and Form 24 declarations from the 2020 elections.
Jaskaran made the disclosure as his testimony entered a fourth day at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, where Defence Attorney Dr. Dexter Todd intensified his cross-examination over the methodology and handling of the analysis.
Jaskaran said that during the exercise, conducted between June 3 and July 28, 2021, he frequently reviewed his previous tabulations to ensure the accuracy of his work.
He testified that the laptop was provided by police but was secured with a password known only to him. At the end of each workday, the device was returned to police for safekeeping.
Todd pressed Jaskaran on those arrangements and the manner in which his analysis was stored, as the defence continued to scrutinise the reliability and independence of the exercise.
The cross-examination also shifted to regions and districts where smaller differences existed between Form 24 declarations and certified Statements of Poll, including variations that favoured the PPP/C.
Todd questioned whether Jaskaran had ever been specifically called to testify about those discrepancies and pressed him on whether all variations identified during his analysis had been treated consistently.
The prosecution objected to aspects of the questioning, describing them as speculative.
The exchanges come against Jaskaran’s earlier evidence concerning Region Four. He previously testified that his tabulation of certified SOPs produced 116,215 votes for APNU+AFC, compared with 136,057 recorded in the March 13 declaration, a difference of 19,842 votes.
Those figures form part of the prosecution’s evidence concerning alleged manipulation of the 2020 election results.