THE SECURITY OF THE BALLOT BOXES

The history of tampering with ballot boxes commenced in 1968 and ended in 1985. At the 1992 elections, wooden ballot boxes made in Guyana, with the bottom and sides nailed together, ceased being used for elections and ballot boxes manufactured in Canada were acquired for use in elections. These latter ballot boxes were made of […]

NEW PARTIES CREATE ELECTORAL HISTORY

A number of new parties have created electoral history in Guyana by, for the first time, joining together to form a combination of lists whose votes shall be combined to determine the number of seats they will collectively obtain. This has never happened before and is not quite the full-fledged unity among new parties that […]

THEY’RE OFF!

On Friday last, 13 political parties submitted lists of candidates to the Elections Commission in a self-nomination process to contest the general and regional elections on March 2. There was a full turnout of dignitaries – members of the Elections Commission and the diplomatic corps. Even though they were merely observers, their presence lent gravitas […]

CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM

The financing of political campaigns without accountability can lead to corruption and it often does. This is the reason why there are campaign finance laws. In many countries, these laws are extensive and are enforced. Several election cycles ago in Guyana the issue of the reform of campaign finance laws was raised by Mr. Christopher […]

SMALL PARTIES’ CONCERNS ARE A DISTINCT FEATURE OF THE COMING ELECTIONS

There has been much discussion about the number of small parties which have announced their intention to contest the elections due on March 2, 2020. The formation of small parties at election time is not unusual in Guyana. Prior to 2001, before the amendment of the laws to provide for constituencies, many small parties contested […]