Tabitha Sarabo-Halley, the prime ministerial candidate for We Invest in Nationhood (WIN), has accused polling officials in Region 4 of deliberately obstructing her party’s polling agents from entering stations in Georgetown — despite holding valid accreditation used without issue elsewhere in the country.
In a live social media broadcast on Election Day, Sarabo-Halley described a troubling pattern she observed during visits to multiple polling stations in the capital.
“It was very clear because of the number of polling stations I had to go to. My polling agents were outside sometimes for almost an hour, and as soon as I turned up, suddenly smiles, yes, they can come in,” she said. “I didn’t do anything, I just showed up. But it was an intentional thing to frustrate us.”
Sarabo-Halley stressed that WIN’s accreditation letters were issued by GECOM and distributed to all 10 electoral districts, and were accepted on both the East Bank and East Coast. However, she said presiding officers in Georgetown repeatedly questioned the validity of those same documents.
“Somehow, in Georgetown, GECOM staff seem to think something special is required for our polling agents,” she explained.
The delays reportedly demoralised some WIN agents, with Sarabo-Halley noting that a few gave up and left due to how they were treated by both polling staff and police officers. While many were eventually allowed entry after hours of delays, the experience, she said, was unnecessarily hostile.
“Quite frankly, I’m disappointed. But you can’t really say that you expect better. The PPP agents are there, the APNU agents are there, but somehow the WIN agents can’t get to where they need to be to do what they’re supposed to do,” she told reporters.
WIN has committed to resolving the matter internally, but Sarabo-Halley said it was important for the public to understand what the party was up against.
“For the last four hours, we’ve been going around trying to get our agents where they’re supposed to be, inside the polling stations. The Guyanese public should understand what we had to go through,” she said.
The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has not yet issued a response to the allegations.
