–CEO Persaud affirms; says results could be known by September 3
–over 27,000 first-time voters registered to vote

THE Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has affirmed that everything is in place and the commission is fully ready for the conduct of the General and Regional Elections across the country today.

This was according to Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Vishnu Persaud during a press conference, on Sunday.

A total of 757,690 registered voters across the country are expected to cast their ballots at some 2,690 polling stations in the various electoral districts.

“We, at this time, are fully prepared to conduct the general and regional elections,” Persaud told members of the press.

He said that this position is bolstered by feedback that GECOM received from the Returning Officers on Sunday that everything was in place for the conduct of the election.

Against this backdrop, Persaud said that the packing of ballot boxes was done in the presence of accredited political party agents from all contesting parties.

This process was done in accordance with the statute and procedures, involving the political stakeholders and reflecting the spirit of co-operation, he said, noting that the distribution of materials had been well underway for some days.

“Trucks have left the GECOM compound over the past few days, ballot boxes, ballots and other supplies have been prepositioned across the country to be distributed within adequate time for the opening of the polls at 6 am,” he said.

Materials, the CEO said, had already been transported by river and air to ensure that places in the riverine and hinterland communities are also fully equipped for the timely opening of polls.

Continuing on election readiness, he stated that a total of 13,925 polling day staff were trained, while 11,780 staff were employed.

In this regard, Persaud disclosed that all Presiding Officers and other officers are in place for polling stations across the country.

With this, he sought to dispel rumors in the public domain, adding that GECOM has not been in communication with the Guyana Defence Force pertaining to providing assistance in that regard.

Persaud added that the Guyana Police Force will deploy approximately 8,700 officers to maintain order during the electoral process.

Added to this, election observation will be conducted by approximately 500 local observers and 200 international observers, thus contributing to transparency and credibility.

Meanwhile, moving to the timeline for a declaration of the official results by the elections commission, Persaud said that his earlier comment in July did not consider other factors.

As such, he disclosed that, given various factors, they should be able to have declarations made in the districts by the evening of September 3, 2025, providing that there are no requests for a recount.

With this, he said that following the declarations in these districts, he should receive the same by the morning of September 4, and this will then be submitted to the commission for a declaration.

Persaud confirmed that contingency plans are in place, catering for the instances of power outages and internet access for scanning and uploading of the Statements of Poll to be done and shared via GECOM’s website.

Persaud, during Nomination Day in July, had said that the declaration of results could be made as early as the end of the following day after the close of polls.

Meanwhile, GECOM Public Relations Officer, Yolanda Ward, in providing statistics ahead of the polls, stated that there are some 27,879 eligible first-time voters.

This number, she said, accounts for first-time voters 18 years and older and persons older than 18 who have registered and are now eligible electors.

Ward went on to add that this figure caters for the recent cycle of extractions that took place in July of this year.

Meanwhile, Persaud called on the various political parties to appeal to their supporters not to thwart the successful conduct of the election across the country.