THE People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo has called for strong enforcement of electoral laws as the country heads to the polls on September 1, warning that offences such as vote buying should be met with a tough crackdown.
He made these remarks on Thursday at a press conference at Freedom House as he emphasised the importance of upholding Guyana’s democracy.
“I hope that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is vigilant and the Police too, because there are lots and lots of cases where we have seen this happening. They need to take strong enforcement action against people who transgress elections laws, including paying people for their vote because this is a crime,” Dr Jagdeo said.
On Monday, GECOM reminded all stakeholders in the September 1, 2025, General and Regional Elections that they all have a statutory duty and civic responsibility to contribute to the elections being conducted in a free, fair, transparent, and credible manner.
In this regard, the Commission took the opportunity to strongly emphasise the need for voters and other concerned stakeholders to be informed of the following provisions as enacted in the Representation of the People Act Cap: 1:03: –“It is an offence for any person, including the voter himself, to communicate at any time to any person, any information about the political party for which any voter has voted on his behalf or as a proxy on behalf of another voter; Similarly, it is an offence for anyone to influence, by any means, a voter to display his ballot paper, to make known the political party for whom he has voted on his behalf, or as a proxy”.
Further, GECOM in a release said that it also an offence for any person, directly or indirectly, to offer any money, gift, and/or a loan, to any voter to secure the vote of any voter at the elections.
Any person who commits any of the above offences shall be liable on summary conviction to pay a fine and to imprisonment for six months.
“Persons convicted for any of the above offences may also be prohibited from participating in future elections,” GECOM said.