Int’l observers laud smooth electoral process countrywide

International observers have so far praised the smooth conduct of the electoral process as Guyanese head to the polls today for the General and Regional Elections.

European Union’s (EU) Chief Observer Robert Biedroń stated that 50 persons from his team are currently covering polling stations in various parts of the country and are providing information to a statistical hub in Georgetown. The information that is gathered will be analysed as the voting process continues throughout the day.

The observation team will also monitor vote tabulation at the regional level to ensure a thorough assessment of the electoral process. Emphasising its impartial and non-interfering role, the mission noted that its reports are meant to support long-term improvements in electoral systems. Biedroń also called for a peaceful Election Day, describing it as a celebration of democracy and an opportunity for citizens to make free, informed choices.

Chair of the Carter Center Election Observation Mission, Jason Carter, said stated that the 40-member team has been deployed across all regions, collaborating with other international observers and engaging with political parties throughout the process.

Carter emphasised that any conclusions about the election must be grounded in evidence, not driven by rumors. He also expressed confidence in the transparency of the tabulation process.

Meanwhile, Chief of the OAS/EOM in Guyana, former Prime Minister of Jamaica Bruce Golding, revealed that its teams have so far visited over 340 polling stations while he personally has visited about 62.

Our observations are that by and large things have been moving smoothly…Generally we were satisfied that the polling exercise started out and up to the last visit that we made and the last report that we got everything has been proceeding in an orderly fashion,” he noted.

“I was particularly impressed at how professional, how well-trained the polling officials appeared to be. They knew what they were doing. They were not hesitant in applying the relevant rules and guidelines and all told things have been going well,” he added.

Golding noted too that the OAS/EOM is committed to observing the tabulation process at the close of polls. “We don’t know how long that will take, we don’t know how far into the night that will go but we’re going to drink some black coffee and stay there as long as we need to because we want to see the process through to the completion,” he assured.

Golding himself was an observer during the 2020 elections in Guyana. He noted that the voting process so far is “very similar when we were here in 2020 at this stage of the of the game, things were moving orderly”. He reminded that the problems in 2020 arose during the tabulation of the votes in Region Four.

“The problems that we observed in 2020 didn’t have anything to do with the actual conduct of the poll. It had to do with a tabulation exercise and only in Region Four because the tabulation exercise in the other nine regions proceeded smoothly without any difficulty. Region Four was where the problem was,” Golding emphasised.

However, he said “I don’t anticipate a recurrence of that problem”.

“There have been some amendments to the regulations regarding the tabulation process and I expect that the tabulation will proceed smoothly…I hope that it will be a result that the people of Guyana are satisfied represents the true and free expression of the will of the people.”