–   commends improvements from 2020 Elections

THE Commonwealth Election Observer mission issued its interim report on Wednesday, noting that Guyana’s General and Regional Election was a smooth and peaceful one.
This was disclosed by Chairperson of the observer group, Former Foreign Affairs Minister of Tonga, Fekitamoeloa Katoa Utoikamanu, during a press conference yesterday.
This election cycle, the observer group deployed teams in seven electoral districts across the country, those being Regions Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Nine and Ten.
Prior to the election day, the mission commended the Guyana Elections Commission for the approval of the appointment of party agents from four political parties on August 30th, despite all those parties missing the statutory deadline for submission of the applications.

They further noted that during the campaign season, the fundamental rights of candidates, political parties and their supporters to assemble and campaign appeared to have been largely observed.

Further to this, Utoikamanu told the news conference that all parties leveraged the use of social media platforms, with newer parties depending heavily on online campaigns. However, she added that the group heard that misinformation and disinformation, a challenge to democracy, were prevalent in the media and in public discourses during the campaign period.
As such, she said, “We recommend the establishment of an independent fact-checking mechanism to support democratic strengthening in Guyana.
On polling day, the chairperson said that the general environment of the election day was peaceful, with polling generally opening on time.
Against this backdrop, the group commended the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) for providing information desks, materials and signage in and around polling stations, which were effective in guiding voters.

While noting that GECOM staff and polling staff worked with professionalism and diligence added that the procedures for conducting the count ensured trust in the process.
Moving to the close of polls, it was stated that they were able to observe the counting of ballot papers.

“The new tabulation process for Statements of Poll and District Tabulation forms was followed and was well understood by party agents. The ascertainment of votes, results, tabulation and verification were conducted with transparency and professionalism,” the chairperson added.
Further to this, the group commended the improvements from the 2020 election which included the uploading of statements of poll to GECOM’s website which can improve the accuracy and transparency of the results.

The observer mission to this end applauded the government’s work on the harmonisation of legislation to update and clarify the legal framework for elections through the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act (RoPA) and the National Registration (Amendment) Act (NRA).
The group is expected to formulate its full report and make the same available within the coming months, which will encompass further detailed observations.