Norton flags defective declarations for regions 4, 7, 10

Last Updated on Thursday, 4 September 2025, 23:16 by Writer

Presidential candidate for A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), Aubrey Norton on Wednesday questioned the declarations for electoral districts/ regions 4, 7 and 10 that showed his party recording major losses in those three historical strongholds.

“While we were involved in the count at Region Four, there were many unsigned statements of poll. There were also statements of poll that had no numbers,” he said on a social media video in reaction to the district declarations made on Wednesday by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). “Of course, we objected.”

Ahead of Thursday’s recount of votes cast on the East Coast Demerara at APNU’s request, Mr Norton linked those declarations, totalling 438,650 valid votes, to a “padded” voters list of 757,690 names. He said “many” Commonwealth citizens who voted did not meet the criteria of being “domiciled”- a permanent resident – in Guyana. “All of these, we believe, would have contributed to our conclusion that there are a lot of irregularities in the elections.

The Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) and 11 other organisations on Wednesday said “A large numbers of unskilled labourers are alleged to have taken part in the recent elections in a manner that suggests external assistance or organization. While external help in itself is not uncommon, particularly with the elderly or otherwise physically impaired, the instances associated with foreign voters went well beyond simply getting people to the polls. Attention has been particularly drawn to the contract labour brought from other countries, notably India and Bangladesh,” they said in a statement.

GECOM has already said it merely complied with the Constitution for registering Commonwealth citizens.

In Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), Mr Norton said it was “implausible” that his party was declared as having won 87,536 votes in contrast to 116,941 votes in 2020 when APNU had been in a coalition with the Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC). “It has never happened in any election anywhere in the world,” he said.

Mr Norton said APNU had also asked for recounts in Regions 7 (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) and Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice). “We will continue to pursue these issues,” he said. A senior GECOM official said so far no request has been made for a recount in Region 10 and promised to check whether there was one for Region Seven.

In Region 10, his party won 5,334 votes in this year’s election compared to 19,169 in 2020 in the coalition with AFC. Newcomer, We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) led by wealthy businessman Azruddin Mohamed, won 10,458 votes in Region 10, while the AFC picked up 210 and the PPP, 4,260.

Across in Region 7, APNU was declared as having won 983 votes in the 2025 general elections in contrast to 4,813 in 2020. WIN won 5,098 and the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) 3,577.

Mr Norton, who is also leader of APNU’s parent party – the People’s National Congress Reform – said discussions had also been held with other opposition parties who were “aware of our position.” He urged Guyanese to “stay focussed.” “It is not the end. We are going to challenge these results until we get to the bottom of how these irregularities and illegalities occurred,” he said.

GECOM’s planned declaration of final results has been pushed back to a yet-to-be-determined date and time because of the recount.

Meanwhile, President Irfaan Ali on Wednesday claimed victory based on the preliminary district declarations, saying the PPPC has secured 36 or 37 of the 65 National Assembly seats with about 55 percent of the valid votes cast.

The APNU presidential candidate had previously attributed his party’s, including the PNCR, unprecedented defeat to the susceptibility of persons who had been impoverished by the PPPC-led government and a low voter turnout caused by the failure of APNU and AFC to contest as a coalition.