2025 voting process was “smoothest” ever observed in Guyana – Carter Center’s final report

The Carter Center has described Guyana’s 2025 General and Regional Elections (GRE) as the “smoothest” voting process it has ever observed in the country, while concluding that the revised tabulation system was “more transparent and verifiable than in 2020, contributing to greater confidence in the announced results”.

In its final report on Guyana’s September 1 elections, released on Thursday, the Center described the elections as “an important demonstration of its democratic resilience” following the deeply divisive and traumatic 2020 polls. The report commended Guyanese for maintaining peace throughout the campaign and voting period.

“While the campaign was at times fractious, the Guyanese people showed that they can have lively rallies and impassioned debate while maintaining a peaceful election environment,” the report noted.

“On election day, the voting process itself was the smoothest the Carter Center has observed in Guyana… Carter Center observers rated the conduct of procedures positively at every station visited, with no significant irregularities reported… The Center congratulated the people of Guyana for the calm and quiet dignity with which they exercised their right to choose their leaders on election day.”

This was the sixth time that the Cater Centre has been present as an observer for national elections in Guyana; the report notes that this is “the most we’ve observed in any country”.

For election day, the Center deployed a team of 43 international observers from 21 countries across all 10 regions of Guyana. These observers visited 17 per cent of polling places on Election Day and observed post-election processes at regional offices through the tabulation phase.

The report highlighted both major improvements in the administration of elections and lingering structural weaknesses that continue to undermine confidence in the electoral system.

“Overall, the legislative changes made to the tabulation process were positive and contributed to a more efficient and transparent tabulation process that better ensures that the announced results reflect the will of the people as expressed on election day,” the report said.

“The 2025 election was the first since the traumatic experiences of 2020, and the nation faced important choices about its future and the use of its newfound economic wealth… The 2025 elections were competitive, and Guyana must now strive to respect the will of the people in its politically diverse parliament and political institutions.”

The foreword to the report was written by Jason Carter, who led the observation mission and is the grandson of former US President Jimmy Carter.

The Center also praised reforms made to the tabulation process following the 2020 electoral crisis. It said legislative changes introduced in 2022 contributed to “a more efficient and transparent tabulation process” that better ensures that the announced results reflect the will of the people as expressed on election day.

The report stated that tabulation in 2025 “was generally conducted in a ‘reasonable’ or ‘very good’ manner across all 17 tabulation centres, with improved transparency through the public posting of SoPs [Statements of Poll] at polling stations and their timely upload to GECOM’s website for public scrutiny.”

Although the new procedures, particularly the requirement to upload all SoPs before tabulation, caused some delays, the Carter Center said the system functioned efficiently with few technical issues and allowed observers and the public to closely follow the process.

The Center observed that the elections were held in an environment of “entrenched political divisions and low public trust in political parties and institutions”. The report noted that the elections significantly altered Guyana’s political landscape, pointing to the collapse of the APNU coalition, stating that the results “signalled the fracture of the longstanding opposition coalition led by the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and a substantial loss of support.”

It added that “APNU suffered a historic collapse” when the newcomer We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party emerged as the leading opposition force. The report also highlighted that for the first time in 19 years, the AFC failed to win a parliamentary seat.

“This is the first time in Guyana’s history that neither the PPP/C nor the PNCR (or a coalition it led) will be the major opposition party and serve as leader of the opposition,” the report stated.

The Carter Center said the 2025 elections underscored the urgent need for constitutional and electoral reform, particularly to address what it described as Guyana’s “winner-take-all electoral system”.

The report also raised concerns about campaign finance, the use of state resources, media imbalance, the politically divided composition of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), and the need for voter rights for prisoners and other incarcerated persons.

The Carter Center reiterated its longstanding recommendation that Guyana reform GECOM “to increase its independence, effectiveness, and professionalism”.

Among its key recommendations was an independent audit of the voters’ list to address persistent concerns over the integrity and accuracy of the register.

The report noted that for the 2025 elections, turnout declined, with fewer Guyanese voting than in the 2020 elections, despite an increase in the population.

“Fewer voters turned out in 2025, down 15% from 2020, with the sharpest drops in traditionally opposition-leaning districts, suggesting voter disengagement amid opposition fragmentation…. This development deserves further examination and reflection,” the report noted.