Observing elections in a complex political environment. A case of Guyana 2020.

Open to all University of Michigan students.

Please join us for a virtual seminar with Jason Carter, Chairman of the Carter Center Board of Trustees, Ms. Narcis Scope, Chief Elections Officer, Elections and Boundaries Commission of Trinidad and Tobago representing CARICOM, and Ms. Pauline Chase from The Bar Association of Guyana in conversation with Ambassador Susan Page, Professor of Practice in International Diplomacy at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy discussing about the Guyana Electoral Observation Mission (EOM).

About the speakers:

Jason Carter is the Chairman of the Carter Center Board of Trustees and a partner at the law firm of Bondurant, Mixson & Elmore, LLP in Atlanta, Georgia, where he represents clients in high stakes business litigation.   As the grandson of the Carter Center’s founders, Jason has been involved with the Center’s programs for 20 years, working to advance peace and health across the globe.  Prior to becoming Chairman of the Board, he oversaw the Center’s strategic planning and participated in the Center’s programs in Liberia, Egypt, Myanmar and the West Bank/Gaza.  Aside from the Center, he combines a successful litigation practice with a strong commitment to public service.  From 2010-2015 he served in the Georgia State Senate.  In 2014, Jason was the Democratic Nominee for Governor of Georgia, receiving more than 1.1 million votes in a race that garnered substantial national attention.  He previously served for more than two years in the United States Peace Corps in South Africa where he worked in schools to assist with their transition out of Apartheid. Jason has been named to Georgia Trend’s list of the 100 Most Influential Georgians, and has consistently been recognized as a “Super Lawyer” in Atlanta Magazine, a listing of the top attorneys in Georgia. Jason has received numerous other awards for his legal work and community service, including the Anti-Defamation League’s Stuart Eizenstat Award. In addition to his work at the Carter Center, Mr. Carter serves on the boards of a number of civic organizations in the Atlanta area, including Hands on Atlanta, and the Women’s Resource Center to End Domestic Violence. Jason attended Duke University, and the University of Georgia School of Law.  He lives in Atlanta with his wife, Kate, and their two sons, Henry and Thomas.

Ms. Pauline Chase is an Attorney-at-Law with twenty (20) years of practice at the Bar in Guyana.
She started her formal education at the Stella Maris Primary School in Georgetown, Guyana
where she wrote the Common Entrance Exam and passed for Queen’s College, the top High
School in Guyana. Upon the conclusion of her High School studies and being granted a special
age dispensation, she entered the University of Guyana at the age of fifteen where she obtained
a Diploma in Public Management. She then attended the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill
Campus, Barbados and graduated with a Bachelors of Laws with Honours. Upon the successful
completion of the two-year program at the Hugh Wooding Law School, she was awarded a
Certificate of Legal Education on which she was admitted to the Bar on October 10, 2000.
On being admitted to the Bar, she joined the Law Firm of Ashton Chase Associates where she is
a senior partner. Ms. Chase has enjoyed a wide civil practice including litigation in the High Court,
Full Court and Court of Appeal, in areas of law such as family, labour, estates, trusts, contract,
the constitution and commerce; and acts as external Counsel for a variety of companies and
financial institutions such as the Bank of Guyana and The New Building Society Limited.
She is the Secretary of the Bar Association of Guyana, a position to which she has been elected
to serve for the past four consecutive years. She is also the Vice-President of the alumni
association of her alma mater, Queen’s College, and sits as a Director on the Deposit Insurance
Corporation, National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited and the Catholic Hospital Inc.

Ms. Fern Narcis Scope is a graduate of the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill and St. Augustine campuses. An Attorney -at-law by profession, Ms. Narcis was admitted to the Bar in 2004. Her wide and varied experience includes positions as Legal Counsel/Corporate Secretary at several State Enterprises and Legal Officer at one of Trinidad and Tobago’s Government Ministries. Ms. Narcis has also lectured extensively in the field of law at the Cipriani College of Labour and Cooperative Studies. Ms. Narcis joined the Elections and Boundaries Commission of Trinidad and Tobago as its Senior Legal Officer and Secretary to the Board of Commissioners in April, 2010. She possesses a comprehensive knowledge of the Laws of Trinidad and Tobago, Public Corporate Governance, Public/ Administrative Law; and Governmental procedures and practices. She is married and has one daughter.

Faculty Expert

Susan D. Page

Professor of Practice in International Diplomacy at the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, and Professor from Practice at the University of Michigan's Law School. Director; Weiser Diplomacy Center

Page applies her vast foreign policy experience to the Weiser Diplomacy Center. She has served the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the United Nations, and non-governmental organizations in senior roles for decades, across East, Central, and Southern Africa, and in Haiti and Nepal. Page was the first U.S. ambassador to the Republic of South Sudan and served as Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations in Haiti.

• Susan Page
• Weiser Diplomacy Center
• Democracy and Debate
• diplomacy impact
• diplomacy