See below full statement issued by GECOM:

GHRA and partner Organisations Must Desist from Making Pronouncements Aimed at Undermining the Integrity September 1, 2025, General and Regional Elections

The Guyana Elections Commission has taken note of an undated and unsigned document that is currently in circulation, apparently by the Guyana Human Rights Association.

The contents of the document appear to be clearly intended to undermine the gains made by the Commission regarding the efficient manner in which the September 1, 2025, elections were conducted and, somehow, to besmirch the integrity of the election process with insinuations of irregularity.

Against this backdrop, it is important to note the following: –

1. Insofar as “inclusiveness” of the September 1, 2025 elections is concerned, the Commission complied with the legislative requirements regarding the preparation of the Official List of Electors. Since January 2023, registration of electors was done throughout the year as provided for in law. Several Claims and Objections exercises were conducted, with the last one being directly linked to the preparation of the OLE. Therefore, the issue of inclusiveness regarding the conduct of the elections can only be seen as mischievous.

2. Foreign Voter Participation – Bangladeshi and Indian Contract Workers

Bangladesh and India are both Members of the Commonwealth. There is a statutory authority that provides for the registration of citizens from Commonwealth countries who are fourteen (14) years and over and living in Guyana for one year or more by the

qualifying date with reference to the ongoing registration exercise. Every citizen from Commonwealth countries, not limited to the two about which the GHRA is concerned, who meet the criteria qualify for registration and by extension to vote at elections providing they are registered and meet the age requirement. Once Commonwealth Citizens are registered as electors, they – all of them, are entitled to vote at the said elections, including the September 1, 2025 elections.

3. Guyanese National ID Cards

GECOM has a legal obligation to issue national Identification Cards to citizens of Commonwealth countries. The “Commonwealth” is not recorded in the field for Nationality in the Application for Registration Form; the letter “C” is recorded in that field as has been done for over two decades. Suddenly, this becomes a problem of the GHRA et al.

4. It is abundantly clear that the use of the term “foreign voters” is a connotation that persons of foreign descent were covertly inserted as voters in the OLE. In this regard, we take the opportunity to emphasize that every entry if the OLE met the statutory requirements for inclusion.

5. GECOM cannot and will not on “coercion of contractual obligation”.

6. Voting en Block

There is absolutely no probation for or regulation concerning whether voters can arrive in groups or individually. This is clearly a non-issue.

7. Regarding the call for GECOM to provide a full and transparent account of voter eligibility and verification this is precisely what we do during registration and Claims and Objections exercises, including the publication of Preliminary and Revised Lists of electors.

As must be obvious, from the foregoing, to all concerned, there can be no assumption that GECOM might have been involved in some kind of deceitful action to facilitate voting by citizens from Bangladesh and India.

We therefore call on the GHRA and the organisations who endorsed the document to desist from making unsubstantiated assertions which, in the eyes of the Commission, is aimed at undermining the integrity and credibility of the yet to be concluded elections.

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