APNU objects to polling booths obscuring vision of party agents

Aug 23, 2025 News

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…despite reports of GECOM’s system working efficiently

Kaieteur News – A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) on Friday objected to the position of polling boxes at polling booth during the voting of members of the disciplined services.

Chief Scrutineer for the political party Carol Smith-Joseph in a video circulating on social media was heard objecting to a member of the disciplined services voting until the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) fixed the position of the ballot papers.

“[It needs to be situated] so that the agents can see that nobody is using any other thing other than the pencil,” she said while on a telephone call with a GECOM official.

“Sir, I’m having some difficulties here, and these people are being told that the DCO is on his way. So, voting will stop, because I will not allow the voting to take place, because it is my interest and my party’s interest.

The voting compartments are away from the agents. They cannot see if anything other than a pencil is being used,” Smith-Joseph said.

At the close of poll, Smith-Joseph told Kaieteur News that the position of ballot was an issue across the board and she objected at every polling station she visited. According to the APNU representative, the matter was resolved after speaking with senior GECOM officials.

“Whatever I raised, resolutions were found. What I have to do now is try to ensure [it doesn’t occur on E-day] …This first round of voting with the disciplined services, we actually had…I call it a test run to the actual day to see all of GECOM’s short comings and so on. Through our commissioners we will raise issues and bring it to GECOM’s attention so that we can make sure that on E-day we don’t have a repeat of some of the issues we encountered today.

Like Smith-Joseph, opposition leader Aubrey Norton in a live broadcast on his party’s Facebook page said that the concerns raised by the party’s chief scrutineer were addressed. He said contact was made with the chief elections officer Vishnu Persaud and the matter remedied.

“He’s changing it, and we have been moving around saying it needs to be changed, because once you have the box like that, people still find the means of doing irregularities, and as we pursue free and fair elections, we want to see this done properly. Additionally, we are saying to our agents, they should not encourage any voting if we cannot see the person in the box. It is done in a way that you can’t see where they’re marking their X, but you must see the person so that you know the right thing is happening,” he stated.

The opposition leader disclosed that the party’s agents were present at all polling stations.

Meanwhile, the other political parties contesting this year’s general and regional election have all reported that the systems put in place for voting by members of the disciplined services worked well despite minor hiccups.

President Irfaan Ali, presidential candidate for the Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C), during a visit to the headquarters of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Base Camp Ayanganna, told journalists that the process appeared smooth and efficient.

He observed GECOM staff and polling agents carrying out their duties at just about 07:00hrs.

“So, I think that things are moving very smoothly, very efficiently at the moment, given what you’ve seen at the police and what you’ve just seen here at Camp Ayanganna,” he said.

Ali, who is seeking a second term in office, said while the system used by GECOM was efficient, there were a few minor issues that needed ironing out while referencing the non-issuance of accreditation letters to some party agents.

The president assured that the matter was reported to the chief elections officer who indicated that the names of the agents that did not receive the accreditation letters were on a master list.

Presidential Candidate for the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party Azruddin Mohammed told journalists outside the Police Officers’ Mess, Eve Leary that the process was smooth while noting that he and his team which included Tabitha Sarabo-Halley and Dawn Hastings-Williams were visiting various polling stations to ensure that voters did not experience hiccups.

Mohamed told journalists that he was not informed of any challenges with the voting process.

“No complaint as yet,” he said around 11:00h.

Meanwhile, the Alliance for Change (AFC) also reported a smooth voting process. Chairman of the party David Patterson commended GECOM for an efficient system.

“The system is functioning efficiently. There are some queues in the highly populated polling stations, but that’s expected,” he said Friday morning.

Patterson, who at the time of the interview had only visited a few polling stations, said that there was a need for there to be more staff from GECOM at the polling stations.

“I was at the police officers’ mess and a few others. I think it would have been more efficient if you had more personnel from GECOM available. I would like to think this is an oversight. I would not like to put it down that GECOM may be short staffed, but obviously on E-Day, on September 1^st, will be we hope that there will be a full complement of GECOM workers,” he said.

At the close of polls, Patterson explained that because there were only two persons working at some polling stations, the process for some members of the disciplined forces took longer than expected.  He said he is hopeful that on September 1, there will be a full complement of staff at each polling station.

Similarly, leader of the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) Amanza Walton-Desir in a brief interview published on Facebook after visiting some polling stations reported that the voting process was smooth and efficient.

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• APNU, Disciplined Services’, GECOM, Guyana Elections, obscuring, polling booths, vision

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