Guyana cannot claim to uphold democracy while resisting the safeguards needed to protect the people’s vote. The repeated call for biometric verification at polling stations remains urgent. Our elections must produce results that reflect the will of the electorate, not declarations clouded by persistent questions about the integrity of the process.
In 1926, when the trade union movement started the fight for one-man-one-vote, it meant just that. A century later, we have not wavered from that call; we are only reaffirming the importance of ensuring that the person casting a ballot is alive and eligible to vote under just laws.
Last week, five Western diplomatic representatives met with the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to discuss electoral reform, recommendations arising from the September 2025 General and Regional Elections, and preparations for the next Local Government Elections. Their engagement underscores the international attention being paid to Guyana’s electoral credibility.
Guyana is a sovereign nation. We must solve our own problems and discharge our constitutional responsibilities without depending on foreign governments to tell us what needs to be done. The responsibility to safeguard democracy rests with us, and we must work assiduously to guard the tenets upon which it is built.
Guyana has the financial and institutional wherewithal to get it done. We have the money to source the requisite resources and the legislature to ensure that laws safeguard the principle of one-man-one-vote. What is missing is political will. We are confronted by political leaders who benefit from lawlessness. They are unwilling to commit the necessary resources, while the failure of institutions to act raises serious questions about their independence and willingness to defend the democratic rights of citizens.
Guyana needs a clean, credible voters’ list and biometric verification at polling stations. Both are essential. A credible list establishes who is entitled to vote; biometric identification helps verify that the person presenting at the polling station is the registered voter. Together, these safeguards can help deter impersonation and multiple voting and strengthen confidence in the electoral process.
The necessary amendment to the electoral provisions of the Constitution to modify the voters’ list is achievable. Yet neither side, opposition nor government, appears willing to do the work required to get this done. More than six years have passed since the court addressed this matter, and there should have been a positive outcome by now.
We cannot continue tolerating election after election accompanied by controversy over the voters’ list, voter identification and the conduct of the process. These issues strike at the legitimacy of electoral outcomes. A declaration is not enough; the process producing it must command public confidence- from start to finish- and reflect the genuine choice of the people.
The political inconsistency surrounding biometrics must also be exposed. The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) supported biometrics when it was in opposition. Now that it is in government, it is finding all sorts of excuses not to proceed, even as the nation, including the opposition, has clamoured for its implementation. And we must ask ourselves: why? Democratic safeguards cannot be embraced when politically convenient and resisted when they may constrain political advantage.
The Government must immediately allocate the necessary funding to GECOM. There must be a clear implementation plan, firm timelines, public accountability and adequate preparation to ensure that no eligible voter is disenfranchised and no ineligible person is allowed to cast a ballot.
Equally, Local Government Elections must be held in accordance with the Constitution and the laws of Guyana. These elections are not a favour the Government may grant when convenient. They are a constitutional and democratic obligation. Citizens must be allowed to elect local representatives and hold them accountable. Continued delay undermines local democracy and denies communities their rightful voice.
Society, particularly the political opposition, must also take note of the United States elections last Tuesday. The Democratic Party’s sweeping victories in the House and Senate, described as a “blue tsunami”, demonstrated what sustained organising, broad-tent politics and an inclusionary approach can achieve. The results were widely viewed as a check on political excesses and part of the continuing struggle to make America a “more perfect union”.
There are lessons here for Guyana. Democratic progress requires hard work, coalition-building and a willingness to bring people together across differences. The opposition must understand that unity and collaboration are built through engagement. The national interest must take precedence over narrow party calculations.
Trade unions, civil society, professional organisations and ordinary citizens must demand more than promises. They must insist that GECOM is equipped to protect the ballot and that constitutional obligations are respected.
Guyana has the oil wealth to fund electoral reform. What it cannot afford is the continued erosion of public confidence in its democracy. The time to act is long overdue. We must get our act together now.
