WIN, PPP press GECOM to ensure offshore workers can vote

Aug 25, 2025 News

…hope companies will allow employees to vote with pay

Kaieteur News – We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) is calling for urgent measures to ensure that Guyanese employed offshore are able to exercise their democratic right to vote at the September 1 General and Regional Elections, without jeopardizing their jobs.

Since oil production began in December 2019, this will be the second general election held during offshore operations. In a statement on Sunday, WIN said it was contacted by several offshore workers who indicated that their employers had informed them no arrangements would be made for them to leave the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels or rigs to vote.

“This means nearly 1,000 hardworking citizens, men and women serving our nation on four FPSOs and five rigs, face the risk of being shut out of the very process that gives them a voice in shaping their country’s future,” WIN stated.

The party blamed the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), saying it had fallen short in its preparations. “When the law is silent, leadership demands that we adjust our systems to protect the people. No eligible Guyanese should ever be denied their constitutional right to choose their leaders,” WIN declared.

WIN further outlined that democracy is only real when every voice counts, urging the immediate implementation of the “hopscotch voting method” as a fair and practical solution for offshore workers.

The party also accused its political opponents of being preoccupied with their own agendas, stressing that WIN remains committed to ensuring all Guyanese have the opportunity to participate in shaping the nation’s future.

At his press conference last Thursday, People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo was asked about the issue. He first noted that PPP cannot instruct GECOM what to do. Jagdeo said too, “So we’d have to examine it, because we cannot tell GECOM what to do, but I hope that people will be given the time off to vote. I hope that they will be given the time off and will pay to vote. That’s my hope.”

Meanwhile, a notice from an oil company seen by this publication outlined that offshore workers scheduled to work on September 1, 2025, which has been designated as Election Day, would not be able to embark offshore due to the nature of operations. Workers who wish to remain onshore to facilitate voting will be crew-changed at the next available port of call, depending on the schedule.

The notice also stated that those choosing to remain onboard for Elections Day must fill out a declaration form, as no exceptions will be made. Employees intending to vote were asked to indicate this by July 31, 2025.

GECOM had issued a notice in July reminding employers that they are statutorily obligated to grant time-off to employees to vote at general and regional elections.

The Commission had reminded employers of the legal provisions to grant employees the requisite time-off to vote at the elections.

Specifically, Section 81 (1) of the Representation of the People Act (ROPA), Cap 1:03 makes it mandatory that, “every employer shall permit every elector in his employ, other than any elector on whose behalf another elector has been appointed to vote as a proxy, to be absent from his work on election day for a reasonable time, in addition to the normal midday meal hour, for the purpose of voting at the election; and no employer should make any deduction from pay or other remuneration of any such elector or impose on him or exact from him any penalty by reason of his absence during such period.”

Notably, employees were advised that it is their constitutional right to vote at the election and reminded that it is their responsibility to engage their respective employers ahead of time to discuss the requisite time-off and to obtain the necessary approvals.

Failure on the part of any employer to grant such request constitutes an election offence. Section 82 of ROPA provides that, “any employer who directly or indirectly, refuses or who by intimidation, undue influence or in any other way interferes with the granting to any elector in his employ of the period for voting prescribed by section 81 shall on summary conviction be liable to a fine of sixty-five thousand dollars ($65,000) and to imprisonment for six (6) months.’

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Elections, FPSOs, GECOM, Guyanese employed, offloading, voting, We Invest in Nationhood

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