2006 Elections in Guyana

To the relief of the Guyanese people, the elections went ahead without incident on 28th August 2006. The atmosphere was generally peaceful, and most observers alluded to the orderly conduct of voters and the professionalism of polling officials. The peace continued in the next day, and right up to the official declaration of the results on 31st August. Significantly, there appeared to be general acceptance of the results. However, by the next day, questions about the accuracy of the results were surfacing. The EAB formally queried the results for one of the Electoral Districts. However, a response was not received from GECOM. The affected party subsequently raised the issue directly with GECOM, and later moved to the law courts after GECOM declined to address their concerns. Other political parties have also questioned the results.

In many respects, the 2006 elections were the most violence-free in recent memory. Generally speaking, the elections met  acceptable international standards. However, there is the perception among sections of the society that fundamental aspects of Guyana’s electoral system and systems of governance need to be reformed. The EAB has issued several reports covering the key aspects of the electoral process (please refer to EAB’s website: www.eab.org.gy). It will also publish its final report shortly, which will provide an overall perspective of the elections and analyse the elections results.