Needs assessment to be conducted for international aid in hosting 2025 elections

As the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) ramps up preparations ahead of the 2025 polls, a needs assessment will soon be conducted to ascertain areas where the commission would need further assistance to ensure a smoother and more efficient elections process.

Chief Elections Officer, Vishnu Persaud, during a recent press conference, explained that the Commission met with several delegations regarding possible aid in hosting the 2025 General and Regional Elections.

“The Commission did meet with a team of persons … [and] the collective position was that they would have agreed to respond to the needs of GECOM based on a needs assessment,” he said.

The commission has written to these bodies through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to invite the needs assessment team.

“We are optimistic that that team will be here in Guyana to conduct its needs assessment and give us some recommendations before the end of the year,” he said.

Earlier this month GECOM initiated discussions with representatives from the US, British, Canadian, and European Union (ABCEU) missions in Guyana on this topic. These discussions aimed to explore new forms of electoral assistance, which included the possible deployment of observer delegations.

This move signals a clear step towards ensuring transparent 2025 elections, in light of the challenged faced during the 2020 elections.

The March 2020 General and Regional Elections were marred by delays and allegations of fraud, culminating in a five-month wait for the final results.

The PPP/C’s public release of their GECOM-issued Statements of Poll and the certified recount validated their claims, revealing significant manipulation by the Region 4 Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, in favour of the APNU+AFC coalition.

In April 2023, a Presidential Commission of Inquiry concluded that senior GECOM officials had colluded to alter the election results, undermining the electoral process. Several individuals, including former Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield and other GECOM employees, are now facing trial for electoral fraud.