A Commonwealth Observer Group (COG), which observed Guyana’s 1 September 2025 General and Regional Elections has concluded that the elections were largely peaceful with voting, counting, and tabulation professionally managed.
However, the Group noted persistent challenges, which affected public confidence and equity, including uneven access to campaign resources, media bias that favoured the governing party, weak regulation of campaign finance, and ongoing partisan divides.
The Group, deployed by the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Hon Shirley Botchwey, was led by Mrs. Fekitamoeloa Katoa ‘Utoikamanu, former Foreign Minister of Tonga, and included ten eminent members.
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The Observers visited Guyana from 23 August to 7 September 2025 and observed election operations across seven regions. During their visit members engaged with political parties, electoral authorities, civil society, media, and international partners.
The Group in its engagement noted gaps in inclusive participation: youth, persons with disabilities, and Amerindian communities were underrepresented, and the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) lacked sex-disaggregated data for polling staff and candidates, which limited transparency in planning for inclusion.
The Group, however, commended several reforms, including updates to the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act 2022 and the National Registration (Amendment) Act 2022, as well as GECOM’s decentralisation of counting and simultaneous electronic posting of polling station results. These measures enhanced procedural accuracy.
The COG has recommended the establishment of a binding code of conduct for political stakeholders, issue-based campaigning, strengthened media independence, digital resilience against misinformation, and further improvements to polling accessibility and staff training.
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The 2025 elections occurred amid significant economic transformation, political polarisation, and high public interest in the management of newfound offshore oil wealth. Despite challenges, the Group concluded that the elections were conducted in a generally professional and peaceful environment, reflecting Guyana’s continued democratic progress.
Releasing the report, Commonwealth Secretary-General Shirley Botchwey said:
"I welcome the COG’s assessment that the September 2025 elections in Guyana were conducted in a generally peaceful and well‑organised manner, demonstrating encouraging improvements. The findings of our observer group also underscore that more remains to be done to secure equity, full inclusivity, and public confidence.
"The Commonwealth stands ready to support Guyana in strengthening its electoral framework so that every citizen can fully and fairly exercise their democratic rights."
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Commonwealth Observer Group begin work in Guyana, ahead of September poll
Photos from the Guyana Election 2025 are available to view in our Flickr gallery
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