GHRA concerned about 2025 elections’ integrity

Sep 03, 2025 News

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…GECOM rebukes pronouncement to undermine process

Kaieteur News – The Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) has raised concerns about the accessibility and integrity of the 2025 General and Regional Elections, including foreign voter participation and irregularities.

The GHRA in a statement on Tuesday noted its concerns regarding the integrity and inclusiveness of the elections. The organisation said that while polling day was largely peaceful, multiple issues threaten the credibility of the process and the constitutional right of citizens to participate in free and fair elections. Notably, in a statement on Tuesday evening, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) issued a statement responding to the GHRA’s concerns.

The first concern identified by the GHRA was the foreign voter participation citing credible reports and video evidence which show groups of alleged Bangladeshi and Indian contract workers arriving by bus at a polling station in Region Four.

“These individuals presented Guyanese National ID cards. However, under the nationality field, the word Commonwealth was recorded instead of Guyanese, which is legally invalid. Such registration should have been rejected under the Constitution and electoral law,” GHRA said.

In relation to this concern, the organisation demanded clarification on the number, origin and status of all foreign voters on the electoral register; whether any coercion or contractual obligation influenced their participation and similar information for other non-Guyanese voters, such as Venezuelan nationals registered to vote.

Further, GHRA said that there were voting irregularities, citing the arrival of voters en bloc, rather than individually. It said that this is inconsistent with the principle of secrecy, individual suffrage enshrined in the Constitution.

The organisation argued that the inclusion of ineligible foreign nationals undermines the credibility of the vote.

“Article 59 of the Constitution of Guyana reserves the right to vote for citizens only. Any dilution of this right through ineligible voter participation compromises the legality and legitimacy of the electoral outcome,” GHRA said.

It stressed that given the stakes, including governance over substantial oil revenues, it is imperative that all procedural, legal, and constitutional safeguards are rigorously enforced.

GHRA stated, “International observers have emphasized that elections must be credible, inclusive, and transparent. If this standard is applied, the GHRA would be shocked if any observer mission were to declare this election credible, inclusive, and transparent without first obtaining clarification on these critical issues, particularly foreign voter participation and accessibility failures.”

The body called on GECOM to provide a full and transparent account of voter eligibility verification and remedial action for accessibility failures. It then called on international and domestic observers to withhold certification of the election results until foreign voter irregularities and accessibility breaches are fully investigated and remedied.

Additionally, to the government and judiciary, GHRA said, “Uphold the constitutional right of citizens to vote by initiating thorough inquiries and ensuring corrective measures where required.”

GECOM

Meanwhile, GECOM in response said that it views the contents of the GHRA statement as intended to undermine the gains made by the Commission regarding the efficient manner in which elections were conducted and to besmirch the integrity of the election process with insinuations of irregularity.

In response to GHRA’s concern of inclusiveness, GECOM said that the Commission complied with the legislative requirements regarding the preparation of the Official List of Electors (OLE).

“Since January 2023, registration of electors was done throughout the year as provided for in law. Several Claims and Objections exercises were conducted with the last one being directly linked to the preparation of the OLE. Therefore, the issue of inclusiveness regarding the conduct of the elections can only be seen as mischievous,” GECOM said.

As it relates to the foreign voters’ participation, it was reminded that Bangladesh and India are both members of the Commonwealth. GECOM outlined the statutory authority that provides for the registration of citizens from Commonwealth countries who are 14 years and over and living in Guyana for one year or more by the qualifying date.

It said, “Every citizen from Commonwealth countries, not limited to the two about which the GHRA is concerned, who meet the criteria qualify for registration and by extension to vote at elections providing they are registered and meet the age requirement. Once Commonwealth Citizens are registered as electors, then all of them, are entitled to vote at the said elections including the September 1, 2025 elections.”

Further, GECOM reminded of its legal obligation to issue National Identification Cards to citizens of Commonwealth countries. It explained that the Commonwealth is not recorded in the field for nationality. It also noted that the letter “C” is recorded in that field as has been done for over two decades.

“It is abundantly clear that the use of the term ‘foreign voters’ is a connotation that persons of foreign [nationality] were covertly inserted as voters in the OLE. In this regard, we take the opportunity to emphasize that every entry if the OLE met the statutory requirements for inclusion,” GECOM said.

As it relates to the concern of voting en block, GECOM said there is absolutely no probation for or regulation concerning whether voters can arrive in groups or individually. “This is clearly a non-issue,” it was stated.

Regarding the call for GECOM to provide a full and transparent account of voter eligibility and verification, GECOM stated this is precisely what is done during registration and Claims and Objections exercises, which includes the publication of Preliminary and Revised Lists of electors.

“As must be obvious, from the foregoing, to all concerned, there can be no assumption that GECOM might have been involved in some kind of deceitful action to facilitate voting by citizens from Bangladesh and India. We therefore, call on the GHRA and the organisations who endorsed the document to desist from making unsubstantiated assertions which, in the eyes of the Commission is aimed at undermining the integrity and credibility of the yet to be concluded elections,” GECOM said.

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• 2025 elections, GECOM, GHRA, integrity

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