Snap general elections were held in Guyana on 2 March 2020. They were called early after the government of President David A. Granger lost a vote of no confidence by a margin of 33–32 on 21 December 2018, Caribbean Chronicle, 22 December 2018. the government having held a one-seat majority since the 2015 elections. However, one of its own MPs, Charrandas Persaud of the Alliance for Change (AFC), voted with the opposition. Granger announced on 25 September 2019 that the elections would be held on 2 March 2020.
The elections were expected to be one of the most significant since Guyanese independence in 1966 because of one of the largest new discoveries of oil in the world off the coast of the country. According to ExxonMobil, Guyana could be producing 750,000 barrels of oil per day within five years, and the expected revenue from this oil would dwarf Guyana's previous US$3 billion GDP and transform its development possibilities.
Nine parties contested the elections for the presidency and for the 65 seats in the National Assembly.Guyana goes to the polls March 2, 2020 Jamaica Observer, 26 September 2019 Although election day and the initial count was deemed to be free, fair and credible, the process of tabulating the votes was widely seen to have been fraudulent. The final region to declare gave a significant boost to the ruling APNU+AFC alliance, allowing it to overtake the main opposition party, the People's Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C). Bruce Golding, a former Prime Minister of Jamaica, who was present during the elections, stated he had "never seen a more transparent attempt to alter the result of an election".
Attempts to swear David A. Granger back in as president were thwarted when an injunction was granted on 6 March by the High Court to block the declaration of the overall results of the elections until the matter could be heard and determined. Granger subsequently agreed to a recount, which was completed on 8 June. The recount showed that the PPP/C party won the most votes, with a bare majority of one seat. Thereafter, several more legal challenges were launched in an attempt to nullify the results of the recount and even to prevent tens of thousands of cast ballots from being registered as valid. However, on 2 August 2020, several days after the Court of Appeal ruled that the results of the recount be utilized as the official results of the election, PPP/C leader Irfaan Ali was ultimately sworn in as president, with Mark Phillips as Prime Minister.
Background Following the no-confidence motion, Attorney General Basil Williams filed a court case arguing that the no-confidence motion was invalid as an absolute majority of the 65 members of Parliament would constitute 34 votes rather than the 33 which the motion received.Attorney General appeals Chief Justice ruling on no-confidence motion; private sector demands elections now Demerara Waves, 5 February 2019 He also argued that Charrandas Persaud, whose vote decided the motion in the opposition's favour, was ineligible to be an MP as he holds dual Guyanese-Canadian citizenship, which is not permitted under the constitution. On 31 January 2019, Acting Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire ruled that although Persaud was ineligible to sit in Parliament, the motion was nonetheless validly passed according to Article 165 of the Constitution, and the government of President Granger should have resigned in its aftermath to allow for early elections."Charrandass Persaud vote valid – Chief Justice", Stabroek News, 31 January 2019. The Attorney General rejected the Acting Chief Justice's ruling and stated that he would appeal against it at the Court of Appeal.Guyana govt. appeals ruling in no-confidence motion case The Daily Herald, 7 February 2019
In February 2019, officials from the Guyana Elections Commission stated that there was not enough time left to organise elections by the constitutional deadline of mid-March. It was reported that the opposition might agree to postpone them until a later date.Guyana: Chief elections officer says polls cannot be held on March 19 St. Lucia News Online, 7 February 2019Guyana: Opposition leader hints at possible extension of deadline for general elections St. Lucia News Online, 7 February 2019
On 22 March 2019, the Court of Appeal overturned the Acting Chief Justice's ruling,Court of Appeal rules no-confidence motion was not validly passed with 33 votes Demerara Waves, 22 March 2019 prompting the opposition People's Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) to appeal to the Caribbean Court of Justice, whose ruling on the matter would be final. On 18 June, the CCJ ruled that the no confidence vote had been validly passed by a majority of MPs, constitutionally necessitating fresh elections. Its ruling also stated that although Persaud may have been ineligible to be an MP due to his dual citizenship, his vote could not be nullified as the irregularity had not been taken up with the proper bodies within the designated timeframe following the 2015 elections."CCJ rules no-confidence motion properly passed with 33 votes", Demerara Waves, 18 June 2019.Ruling CCJ 10 (AJ) CCJ
Electoral system The 65 elected members of the National Assembly were elected using closed list proportional representation from a single nationwide 40-seat constituency and 10 sub-national constituencies with a total of 25 seats. Seats are allocated using the Hare quota.Electoral system IPU
The President was elected by a first-past-the-post double simultaneous vote system, whereby each list nominated a presidential candidate and the presidential election itself was won by the candidate of the list having a plurality.Guyana : Constitution and politics The Commonwealth
Campaign On 19 January 2019, the PPP/C chose former Housing minister Irfaan Ali as its presidential candidate.Irfaan Ali is PPP/C presidential candidate Stabroek News Former Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force, Brigadier Mark Phillips, was chosen as his running mate. Other potential choices included Juan Edghill MP and Hugh Todd, a lecturer at the University of Guyana.
On 16 June, the AFC chose Khemraj Ramjattan as its candidate for Prime Minister should the APNU+AFC coalition be returned to power with Granger as president."AFC picks Ramjattan to be leader, PM candidate", Stabroek News.
An agreement was made by Liberty and Justice Party, The New Movement and A New and United Guyana to combine their lists for the national allocation of seats. The pre-election agreement was for the parties to share any seats won for a period of time relative to their proportion of the vote."ANUG, LJP and TNM cement deal", Stabroek News, 15 February 2020.
Conduct Elections day proceeded smoothly and efficiently. All political parties, plus local and international observers stated that the voting process, plus the counting of votes at polling stations, were free, fair and credible. Counting of votes was done in the presence of all political parties, as well as local and international observers. At every polling station, Statements of Poll (SOPs) were produced and signed by all political parties to verify their accuracy. These SOPs were displayed in public locations outside polling stations. Ballot boxes were then sealed, with each contesting party affixing their own tamper-proof seal to the box, along with some other security measures specified by Guyanese electoral law. By the end of election day, the elections commission (GECOM), local and international observers, the media and local individuals all had copies of the SOPs.
Tabulation The SOPs were transmitted to Guyana's capital, Georgetown, and the ballot boxes were transported to the headquarters of GECOM. A tabulation process then began, to consolidate all 2,339 SOPs across Guyana's ten electoral districts. This tabulation process involved GECOM displaying each SOP, and all contesting parties confirming that the SOP was accurate. Once this check was complete, the SOPs numbers were entered into the overall vote total, from which a President and National Assembly would be installed.
By the evening of 3 March, nine of the ten districts had been tabulated successfully. A large number of SOPs for the final (and largest) district had also been tabulated. The results showed the PPP/C leading by around 51,000 votes."PPP/C leads APNU+AFC by 51,439 with Region Four still to be declared", Stabroek News, 5 March 2020. The process then started to derail once it became clear that the Granger government was heading for defeat. Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo said he felt unwell and was taken to hospital, resulting in the tabulation being suspended for several hours while a replacement for Mingo was sought. That replacement then felt unwell so the tabulation did not restart. Meanwhile, a data entry clerk was found attempting to load SOPs using a suspect laptop and flash drive.Controversy erupts over spreadsheet at GECOM's Region Four office, Stabroek News, 5 March 2020."Police called in at Region Four Returning Officer's office to probe suspect flash drive", Stabroek News, 5 March 2020.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Karen Cummings, arrived at the tabulation centre, summoned all foreign observers and threatened to revoke their accreditation. The British High Commissioner Greg Quinn and the former Barbadian Prime Minister Owen Arthur opposed these threats as inappropriate and possibly illegal. Cummings then left the building. On the morning of 5 March, police sought to clear the building, saying there was a bomb threat, but many representatives of the political parties and international observers refused to leave.
In the evening of 5 March, Mingo appeared at the top of a staircase, surrounded by police, and read out purported results for the final electoral district. These results did not match the SOPs of the political parties or of the local and international observers. Agents of the political parties raised their voices during Mr. Mingo's attempt to declare the results, but he persisted. Despite heavy criticism from party and international observers for the lack of transparency,"Int'l observers pile pressure for return to verification of Region Four votes", News Room, 6 March 2020."Opposition parties say elections have been seized and hijacked", News Room, 6 March 2020. results were released to the media by GECOM showing that the APNU+AFC coalition had won by 59,077 votes, a result that would give them a one-seat majority in the National Assembly."GECOM releases result for Region Four, says APNU+AFC won by 59,077 votes", Stabroek News, 5 March 2020.
The results released by GECOM came under further scrutiny due to the results of Region 4 bearing the signature of Volda Lawrence, the Minister of Health in the APNU+AFC government, instead of just the stamp and signature of the Returning Officer of that region."Form of Region Four vote count has signature of Volda Lawrence", News Room, 9 March 2020. A joint statement from the American, British and Canadian governments and the European Union questioned the credibility of the Region 4 results."US, UK, Canada, EU say Region Four results not credible", Stabroek News, 5 March 2020. The Commonwealth, Organization of American States, the European Union and Carter Center stated clearly that "The tabulation of results for the election in Region 4 was interrupted and remains incomplete... the result of these elections cannot be credibly declared."
Court injunction Later on 5 March, Granger addressed his supporters and thanked them for giving him another term. However, the PPP/C obtained a court injunction preventing the Region 4 returning officer from declaring the results until further verification had taken place."Injunction secured against declaration of results", Stabroek News, 5 March 2020.
APNU+AFC continued preparations to swear in Granger.