Time for biometric system, no evidence of using list for electoral fraud – Commonwealth Observers

Last Updated on Monday, 22 December 2025, 22:32 by Writer

Commonwealth election observers found no evidence that the bloated voters list was used to cheat at the September 1, 2025 general and regional elections, but recommended that Guyana introduce a biometric system to address concerns about a roll bloated with the names of dead persons and emigrants.

“Early in the new election cycle, consideration should again be given to the adoption of biometric voter registration and verification technology,” the Commonwealth Observer Mission said in its just-released report on this year’s polls.

Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairman, Retired Justice Claudette Singh earlier this year said digtalised biometrics could be used for registration of persons but that it would be unconstitutional to use that system to exclusively verify persons’ identities before they are allowed to vote.

At the same time, the Commonwealth Observer Mission said there was no evidence of skullduggery in the casting of the 438,468 valid votes that were cast.

There were 757,690 eligible voters.

“No evidence of leveraging voter roll inflation for electoral manipulation has been substantiated to date,” the observers said in their report.

Positively, the report states that the GECOM responded to concerns relating to the list and eligibility to vote through public information; however, these efforts could have been strengthened with a greater evidence basis for GECOM
communications.

In particular, the Commonwealth Group said the 2025 voting, counting, and tabulation processes were peaceful, transparent, and generally well managed. “GECOM’s updates to electoral manuals and decentralisation of counting represented major improvements since the previous elections.

The Group noted significant improvements in transparency and accuracy, particularly with the introduction of simultaneous electronic posting of polling station results,” the report states.

The Group commends GECOM for significant updates and for ensuring generally transparent and well managed procedures throughout the electoral process.

On Election Day, polling staff demonstrated professionalism, courtesy, and preparedness.

Information desks, signage, and voter materials were effectively used to guide voters, though inconsistencies in signage were noted. Security was also well coordinated.

The report says there were several reported reasons, including the large Guyanese diaspora, for the size of the voters list and similarly a number of humbugs to scouring the names. Among them were legal impediments to modifying the list and the operationalisation of legislation to use information on deaths reported by the Police Commissioner and the Chief Medical Officer to erase those names from the voters list.

The mission noted that despite legislative and administrative changes enacted since the disputed 2020 elections – including reforms to decentralise tabulation and improve transparency – concerns persisted regarding the voters list and the inherent political alignment of GECOM.

GECOM is made up of a chairman and six commissioners equally split between representing the governing and opposition parties.

The report states that most political parties declared that they were participating under protest, believing the elections to be compromised.

New parties voiced dissatisfaction with GECOM’s decision not to incorporate biometric technology and questioned the integrity of the voters list.

Both the AFC and the Assembly for Liberty and Prosperity (ALP) publicly expressed doubts about GECOM’s readiness for the elections, formally calling for the polls to be postponed.