Carter Centre finds calm election day but flags long-standing structural issues

The Carter Center says Guyana’s 2025 general and regional elections were generally peaceful and well administered on election day, but warned that long-standing structural issues continue to undermine public trust in the country’s democratic system.

In its final report following its sixth election observation mission in Guyana, the Center found that voting day procedures were calm and orderly, with observers reporting no significant irregularities across polling stations visited nationwide. It also noted that improvements to the tabulation process—introduced after the disputed 2020 elections—made results more transparent and verifiable.

The report states that the revised system, including the public posting of Statements of Poll and improved digital reporting, helped ensure that results more accurately reflected the will of voters.

However, the mission flagged several concerns that continue to affect confidence in elections.

Among them are the politically divided structure of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), ongoing disputes over the voter register, low public trust, and declining voter turnout, down significantly decreased compared to 2020.

The report also highlights concerns over the use of state resources during campaigning, limited transparency in campaign financing, and perceived bias in state media coverage, which opposition parties said affected fairness.

The election results saw the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) secure reelection with an expanded majority, while a major opposition realignment occurred. We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) emerged as the new official opposition, while A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) lost ground and the Alliance for Change (AFC) lost parliamentary representation.

In its final report, the Center recommends urgent reform of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), citing its politically divided structure and long-standing polarization as barriers to independence, efficiency, and transparency.

The report also calls for a comprehensive reform of Guyana’s electoral system, describing the current mixed proportional representation model as overly complex and difficult for voters to understand, with limited ability to ensure clear representation of citizens’ preferences.

A key recommendation is a nationwide independent audit of the voter registry well ahead of the next election, following repeated concerns from political stakeholders about its accuracy and credibility.

On campaign financing, the Center warns that the absence of modern laws allows for unequal political competition and weak transparency over donations and spending. It also raises concerns about the use of state resources by incumbent actors, which it says is magnified by Guyana’s rapidly expanding oil revenues.

The report further recommends reforms to constituency boundary delimitation, noting that electoral boundaries have not been updated since 2001 despite major population changes identified in the 2022 census.

The Carter Center also highlights gaps in political inclusion, pointing to limited representation of women, Indigenous communities, persons with disabilities, prisoners, and LGBTI citizens. It says legal and institutional barriers continue to restrict full political participation for marginalized groups.

Civil society weakness is another major concern, with the report noting the absence of active domestic election observers and limited capacity among rights-based organizations.

Finally, the Center stresses that Guyana’s ongoing constitutional reform process represents a critical opportunity, urging all political parties and stakeholders to ensure broad, inclusive participation and timely implementation ahead of future elections.

The report concludes that while Guyana’s 2025 elections showed improvement over 2020—especially in tabulation transparency—the country must now address deep institutional and legal gaps to safeguard democratic credibility in an era of rapid economic change driven by oil wealth.

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