7 political parties submit candidates lists on Nomination Day – GECOM

…CEO says result can be known 1-day after poll

Less than half of the political parties that had initially signalled their intention of contesting the upcoming General and Regional Elections on September 1 turned up on Nomination Day to hand in their lists of candidates to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). Initially, 22 parties had submitted symbols to GECOM, declaring their interests in contesting the upcoming polls. The Elections Commission approved 21 of those symbols after one of the parties dropped out of the race. However, during Monday’s Nomination Day activity, where parties were required to submit their respective lists of candidates to the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), only seven parties showed up present the various documents.

These include the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C); A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) – which will be contesting in all 10 administrative regions across Guyana.
The other parties are We Invest In Nationhood (WIN) led by United States (US)-sanctioned businessman, Azruddin Mohamed, which will also be contesting in all 10 regions; the Assembly for Liberty and Prosperity (ALP) led by former APNU/AFC Minister, Simona Broomes, which will be contesting in six regions; and Forward Guyana, led by former APNU parliamentarian, Amanza Walton-Desir, which will be contesting in seven regions. The Horizon and Star Party, led by Dr Hubert Maloney, also submitted a list to GECOM. CEO, Dr Vishnu Persaud, and his Deputy, Aneal Giddings, along with several other GECOM staffers received the lists from the various political parties at the Umana Yana in Kingston, Georgetown.
This process, which lasted from 10:00h to just around 14:30h, was witnessed by both local and international observers including the US Embassy and the Carter Centre, which is currently in Guyana to monitor the upcoming elections.
In attendance also were GECOM Chair, Ret’d Justice Claudette Singh, as well as Commissioners.

Also present during the Nomination Day activity was the team of officials from the United National Development Programme (UNDP) which is currently lending technical support to the Elections Commission for a smooth flow of the various electoral activities leading up to September 1 and thereafter.

Successful Nomination Day
In a statement on Monday afternoon, GECOM hailed the day’s activity as “successful.”
It added, “The atmosphere was peaceful, festive and with a democratic spirit reflecting the importance of this national event.
Following the close of nominations and as per the procedures, GECOM said all submitted lists have been securely transferred to the Commission’s Data Processing Centre, which has been professionally organised to manage both the General and Regional Elections submissions, with clearly designated teams handling each set of nominations.
“In line with our commitment to electoral integrity, all data is being carefully entered into a secure processing system. Each list undergoes thorough verification and validation, including cross-checks against the Revised List of Electors, examination of nominators, and confirmation of candidate eligibility,” the missive from Elections Commission detailed.
Speaking with reporters on the sidelines of the Nomination Day activity, CEO Persaud explained that a software is used to process the list and check for defects such as repetition of names on different parties’ lists.
If such defects are found, then the relevant party would be informed by the end of today.
“Statutorily, [the approval process] should end on Thursday… On Friday, we’re scheduled, as per our work plan, to have the Commission approve the approved lists of candidates to contest the elections. And that is when the final number [of parties] and those lists that would be contesting [the elections] would be known,” Persaud stated.
Once the final list of parties contesting the elections is known, the CEO said the next step would be designing the ballot paper, which will be sent overseas to be printed along with the tally sheets and Statements of Poll. In the meantime, the Elections Secretariat will continue logistical work in preparation for the upcoming polls.
“[When] the ballots come back, we do extraction for the conduct of Discipline Services’ balloting and then we pack ballot boxes for elections day – September 1,” he added.
Since police officers are required to be out on duty on elections day, and the other Discipline Services on standby, the members of these agencies customarily vote before civilians. These ranks are expected to cast their votes on August 22 – 10 days before the September 1 polling day.

National declaration
According to the CEO, there are currently a draft of 2785 polling stations across the country, an increase from the last elections held in 2020. This growth, he explained, was as a result of the numbers of voters per polling stations being restricted now to 400 from the previous 450.
Nevertheless, Persaud further assured that there is adequate security measures introduced to ensure that, unlike 2020, the tabulation of votes at this year’s election is done in a transparent manner and in compliance with the new laws that were put in place. The CEO is also confident that the GECOM staff are fully trained and familiarised with these amended laws to ensure a smooth flow of the electoral activities.
Moreover, Persaud went on to give reassurance that the elections results could be ready as early as two days after the close of polls.
“Now the law requires that as soon as a Statement of Poll is being processed, simultaneously it goes up on the website. So, the results of the election could be known even before we are ready to declare it because you could be…doing your own tabulation. But in so far as a declaration is concerned at the district level, we are earmarked to have declarations done by the night of the day after elections,” he stated.
With regards to a public declaration of the full elections results, the CEO explained that this is dependent on whether there are requests for recount from the political parties.
“If there is [a request for recount], then naturally it holds back national declaration. If there is not, I think by the end of the second day after elections, we should have a national declaration,” Persaud explains.
After nearly a smooth polling day on March 2, 2020, chaos erupted during the tabulation of the results at the last elections after former embattled Returning Officer for Region Four – Guyana’s largest voting district, Clairmont Mingo, sought to declare inflated numbers in favour of the then APNU/AFC Coalition regime.
That attempt to rig the 2020 elections saw Guyana being plunged into a five-month political and electoral deadlock. However, with push back from the opposition parties at the time coupled with support from the international community including overseas observers and after a series of litigation, a national recount was held and showed that the PPP/C won.
Mingo, along with former CEO Keith Lowenfield and other GECOM staffers as well as PNC party activists are currently before the courts facing several electoral fraud charges.