Norton asks GECOM to quash elections, order forensic audit

Last Updated on Friday, 5 September 2025, 23:19 by Writer

Presidential candidate for A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), Aubrey Norton on Thursday formally asked the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Retired Justice Claudette Singh, not to declare the results of Monday’s general and regional elections.

“Ultimately, APNU requests that you intervene immediately to direct the Commission not to declare the election results before the completion of a forensic audit of electoral data, including electors’ votes and/or order that fresh elections are now due, in light of the circumstances,” he said in the letter copied to British High Commissioner Jane Miller, American Ambassador Nicole Theriot, Canadian High Commissioner Sébastien Sigouin and the heads of election observer missions from the Caribbean Community, Organisation of American States, European Union and The Carter Center.

His call for the elections to be quashed comes as the Guyana government continues preparations for the second inauguration of incumbent Dr Irfaan Ali as President of Guyana some time on Sunday.

The entire stretch of Main Street has been spruced up, previously almost permanently clogged drains cleansed, plants groomed, roads repaired and lights installed.

The People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) was set to occupy 36 or 37 seats in the 65-seat National Assembly, having won 242,498 votes compared to closest rivals We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) with 109,066 votes and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) with 77,928.

The Forward Guyana Movement won 4.226 votes, Alliance For Change 3,610 and Assembly for Liberty and Prosperity 969.

In his three-page letter, Mr Nort0n told Ms Singh that the results of the September 1 polls “do not reflect the will of the Guyanese people” and so he needed a forensic audit of electoral data, including electors’ votes, on behalf of APNU entirely based on “egregious violations” of Guyana’s Constitution and the Representation of the People Act.

Citing a section of the European Union Election Observation Mission that the People’s Progressive Party abused its incumbency to the disadvantage of other contenders, Mr Norton said “our demand that the electoral process be wholly aborted is advanced in light of the Report of the European Union Observer Mission, now in public circulation.

He related that the EU Report validates APNU’s assertion that the national elections were neither free nor fair. He said the report noted the PPP/C had an undue advantage of incumbency. Further, the media landscape was highly politicised with disproportionate coverage in favour of the PPP/C.

Additionally, the state media and government social media were used to amplify campaign messaging, blurring the lines between the State and the PPP/C.

“The erosion of confidence among Guyanese electors 1s palpable,” Mr Norton said.

The APNU presidential candidate said his party has received evidence demonstrating the gross dereliction of duties and negligence of presiding officers appointed by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). He said those had been exacerbated by actions of GECOM, “resulting in collusion, conspiracy, and deliberate abrogation of the will of the Guyanese people.”

They include numerous statements of polls (SoPs) disclosing conspicuous inconsistencies evidencing the failure to have them signed by the presiding officers at polling stations, contrary to law. For example, that was the case for ballot boxes nos. 40711, 40728, 40792, 41003, 41005 among several others; the failure to provide Polling Agents with accurate SoPs after the ballots have been certified and counted, as was the case with ballot boxes nos. 40736, 40835, 40857, 40949, 41048, 40910 and many others, and failure of the presiding officers to complete the SoPs for example in the instance of ballot boxes nos. 40694, 40697, 40951, 414037 and others.

“The said irregularities were brought to GECOM’s attention by APNU’s Assistant Agent (District 4 Sub-district 4), in the presence of local and international observer missions, during tabulation on September 2, 2025 and formed the basis for the request for recounts of certain districts of regions Four (4) and Five (5),” Mr Norton told the GECOM Chairman.

He said the approval of such recounts has revealed further untenable circumstances, since in the course of doing them, it was discovered that GECOM’s officials have arbitrarily adopted clearly biased positions in the determination of rejected ballots and without any legal authority whatsoever, whereas in the case of votes cast for the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C), GECOM officials accepted certain ballots, ballots for APNU were rejected, and failed to announce the official stamp or six-digit number on each ballot paper during the current recount.

He said serious questions have arisen regarding the integrity of the votes cast, as there have been allegations of tampering with ballot boxes including ballot boxes nos. EC80004, EC80009, EC80013, EC80022 and EC80019.