No evidence of padding voters list provided – Carter Center

Last Updated on Wednesday, 20 August 2025, 17:44 by Writer

The United States (US)-based Carter Center, here to observe the September 1 general and regional elections, on Tuesday said no evidence was provided that the voters list of 757,690 persons was padded, but said the failure of the Bureau of Statistics to release the results of the 2022 census was unhelpful.

“While the relative size of the OLE (Official List of Electors) raises concerns for many Guyanese, The Carter Center has not received evidence of inflation of the voter roll,” the Carter Center said in its pre-election statement.

Reacting, People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo hailed the Center’s comment about whether the list was padded. “That was the key issue as we go into the elections that the opposition is making,” he said.

Amid concerns that the voters list contains the names of deceased persons and emigrants, the Center indicated that it had hoped that the Bureau of Statistics would have released the findings of the census that was conducted three years ago. “The government conducted a new census in 2022, but the results have not been released. This regrettable lapse obscures public understanding of basic population demographics and their potential relation to the size of the voter list,” the Center added.

“Many interlocutors have raised concerns about the size of the OLE at 757,690,” the Carter Center’s pre-election statement says.

Making it clear that the Carter Center did not observe the voter registration and has not assessed the quality of the voters list, that non-governmental organisation said factors that contribute to the size of the voters list include the need for further efforts to remove the names of deceased from the lots and GECOM needs to expand its ability to engage with a “wider range of agencies.” The Center noted that following recent court decisions and changes to the law, registered voters cannot be removed from the list on the grounds that they no longer reside in Guyana.

The Center notes that the voters roll for this year’s elections was released on July 30 and includes a total of 757,690 voters — 376,703 men and 380,987 women. In keeping with amendments to the legal framework made in 2022, voter registration is now “continuous” and takes place in two “distinct periods ever year.

From January to May, and then again from July to November, individuals can visit GECOM offices to register as a new voter or make changes to their registration details, including their name or address. After each period of registration and modification, there is a month (June and December) dedicated to the production of a Preliminary List of Electors and a “claims and objections” period in which registered voters can challenge other voters’ registrations or amend their own. Following this period, a final Official List of Electors is produced, which is valid for six months after it is certified, the Carter Center added.

GECOM conducted an abbreviated “claims and objections” exercise for the 2025 election from June 16 to 22. During this period, according to the Carter Center, GECOM received a total of 6,563 claims and four objections. GECOM ultimately certified the Official List of Electors on July 29. Commendably, the OLE is available on GECOM’s website with searchable features and will be publicly displayed in all 10 regions.