Region Four count to decide Elections results

Mar 05, 2020 News

By Kemol King

The results for the regional elections have been declared by the returning officers of nine regions, save for Region Four.

Table showing the regional election results for nine regions. Region Four is yet to be included.

These results show that the election has become a two-party race between the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) and A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC). The other parties have recorded mostly dismal performances for the regions in which they contested.
For those nine regions, the PPP/C has taken a commanding lead. What is now necessary is for APNU+AFC to outperform its 2015 performance in Region Four if it is to overtake the PPP/C. In 2015, the coalition secured 43,000 votes more that the PPPC in Region Four.
Kaieteur News has observed stark differences in these two parties’ performances in certain regions in this year, from their 2015 performances. Some of those regions have also registered considerable turnout increases. Those increases may be attributed to the growth of the Official List of Electors (OLE).
In 2015, the OLE held 570,786 voters. Now, the OLE stands at 661,378. That’s a startling net increase of 90,592 voters.
For nine regions, leaving out Region Four, the PPP/C leads by 51,439 votes. In the regional vote, PPP/C won Region One with a margin of victory of 4,157. In 2015, that margin was 3,565.
PPP/C won Region Two with a margin of victory of 11,459 votes. In 2015, that margin was 8,809.
PPP/C won Region Three with a margin of victory of 24,066 votes. In 2015, that margin was 19,641.
PPP/C won Region Five with a margin of victory of 3,788 votes. In 2015, that margin was 3,270.
PPP/C won Region Six with a margin of victory of 22,870 votes. In 2015, that margin was 17,570.
PPP/C won Region Nine with a margin of victory of 2,239 votes. In 2015, that margin was 2,211.
The PPP/C expanded its margins of victory in all of those regions.
As for APNU+AFC, it won three out of the nine regions. APNU+AFC won Region Seven with a margin of victory of 1,144 votes. In 2015, that margin was 1,560.
APNU+AFC won Region Eight by a margin of victory of 45 votes. In 2015, the margin of victory was one vote.
APNU+AFC won Region Ten by a margin of victory of 15,951 votes. In 2015, that margin was 13,908.
To sum up the nine regions, the PPP/C took an almost decisive margin of victory of 51,439 votes. In 2015, that margin stood at 39,644.
Kaieteur News stresses that the results provided are for the regional election, not the general election.
While the parties’ general and regional elections performances tend to differ, the differences are usually marginal. Hence, these results present a fair idea of how the parties have performed in the general election as well.
Everything now boils down to Region Four, the final and most populous district.
In 2015, APNU+AFC won the regional election for Region Four, with a margin of victory of 42,271 votes.
In such a scenario, were it to maintain that difference this time around, it would not be enough to allow APNU+AFC to overhaul PPPC. The party would need to extend its margin of victory to 51,440 votes in Region Four.