Observers report 'free, fair' elections in Guyana

CARICOM Election Observation Mission (CEOM) chief of mission Josephine Tamai says Guyana’s September 1 general and regional elections were free and fair.

At a media conference at Caricom Secretariat Headquarters, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown on September 2, Tamai said the people of Guyana were able to exercise their right to vote in a peaceful manner and believed the will of the people will be respected and accepted.

She said members of the mission attended political meetings and consulted with key stakeholders, including Guyanese President Mohamed Irfaan Ali and other party leaders, other local and international observer groups, the police and NGOs.

On election day, the CEOM observed the electoral process in 324 polling stations in Regions Three-Six and Ten, including preparations for the start of the poll, casting of votes, closure of the polling stations, counting of the ballots, preparation of the statement of polls and the tabulation of results.

“We have not received any reports of major election-related violence during the campaign period,” she said.

However, in a joint statement, Guyana’s police and defence force said on August 31 a boat carrying election officials and ballot boxes to remote polling stations in Region Seven was shot at while sailing along Upper Cuyuni river near the Guyana-Venezuela border.

It claimed the gunshots came from the Venezuelan shore and there were no injuries or damages. Venezuela has denied responsibility.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has publically expressed her support for Guyana amidst Venezuelan aggression towards the Caricom country over a territorial dispute over the oil-rich Essequibo region.

She said, “Should Venezuela move against Guyana, it is then that we will offer any space here to protect our Caricom neighbour, brothers and sisters.”

Tamai said although voter turnout was slow there was adequate police presence at polling stations, all but one station opened on time at 6am, and the staff were “adequately” trained and followed official procedures.

She said there were some inconsistencies in the layout, the positioning of voting compartments, and there were reports of difficulties getting timely information from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

Still, the CEOM commended GECOM on the legal amendments made to enhance the integrity of the tabulation process, especially the provision for electronic transmission, and the public display of Statements of Polls for verification.

The GECOM announced the national results was expected to be declared on September 4, after the declaration of the district results the night before.

In a Facebook post on September 2, Ali congratulated the Guyanese people on the previous day’s peaceful voting process and said the voting trend should be clear by the end of the day.

He said, “As GECOM continues the process of uploading, verification and tabulation, I urge all to celebrate our democratic values as we open another chapter in the development of our beautiful country.”

This would be a change from the March 2, 2020 general election in which the process of tabulating the votes was seen to be fraudulent. The purported results for the final electoral district, Region Four, was read out on March 5, 2020 but an injunction was granted by the High Court to block the declaration of the overall results of the elections on 6 March until there was a recount.

The Supreme Court annulled the results of Region Four on March 11, 2020 and, after several court battles, the recount started on May 6 and was completed on June 8, 2020.

Tamai added that there were concerns about the “bloated nature” of the voters list, which still held Guyanese who lived abroad as well as the deceased, and that an extensive exercise needed to be done.

“GECOM informed that while Guyanese who reside overseas are not included in the national census, the law does not currently authorise the commission to remove their names from the voters’ list of electors as they retain the legal (right) to return and vote.

“The CEOM was informed that in addition to the General Registrar Office, the Ministry of Health and the Police are now required to provide GECOM with information on deceased persons to assist in the timely removal of these names from the list of electors.”

In response to a question from the media, Tamai said Commonwealth citizens were legally allowed to register to vote after living there for a certain period, and that was also the case with Venezuelans. The CEOM was uncertain if any Venezuelans voted or how many were qualified to do so due to citizenship or other legal qualifications.

There were also complaints about the composition of GECOM, so the CEOM suggested independent commissioners be appointed and a time limit be added to the period of the appointments.

In addition, she said campaign financing needed to be addressed. She encouraged the country to look at Jamaica’s campaign financing legislation which would help “level the playing field” in Guyana.

“The political will has to be there to introduce those legislations. It is a challenge, especially in Caribbean countries, however, steps have been made in some countries to move forward with those processes.”

A final CEOM report with recommendations is expected to be delivered to Caricom in about three weeks.