As part of its limited election observation mission in Guyana, The Carter Center has been closely monitoring preelection developments ahead of the September 1 elections. The mission has observed key activities such as nomination day, campaign launches, and various campaign events to assess the country’s electoral preparedness and political climate. In addition, the team has engaged with a wide range of stakeholders, including the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC), political parties, civil society representatives, business leaders, diplomats, and others.
This report offers an overview of the mission’s findings to date. The Carter Center will continue to share its observations through subsequent updates, including a preliminary report shortly after the election and a final, in-depth report in the months that follow, presenting its overall assessment and recommendations.
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Below is a summary of their findings ths far:
The legal and electoral framework governing Guyana’s general and regional elections was amended in 2022 with the aim of improving the transparency of the tabulation process. Important changes also were made to voter registration. Concerns persist among some Guyanese stakeholders about issues such as the integrity of the voter list and the need for GECOM to improve public communications and engage with political parties. The Carter Center notes the ruling party has used state resources and benefited from biased state media coverage, undermining the equitable treatment of candidates. The Carter Center is concerned that only four of the six political parties contesting these elections signed the ERC code of conduct for political parties and strongly urges all parties to sign and uphold the code.
The Carter Center mission has noted that although political campaigning has been generally peaceful, several issues risk undermining the integrity of the electoral process, including local authorities’ approvals of campaign events, alleged intimidation of public workers, and overcompliance by local banks with recent U.S. sanctions, which threatens to hinder political participation. In addition, campaign finance continues to lack transparency — and, in the absence of clear regulations, media fairness remains a concern.
The Carter Center’s International Election Observation Mission in Guyana
The Center was invited in April 2024 to observe this year’s election by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. A four-person team of experts from the United States, Georgia, and the United Kingdom began arriving in Georgetown on June 30, 2025. Additional electoral experts, observers, and delegation leadership will join them around election day. The Carter Center conducts election observation missions in accordance with the 2005 Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation and makes assessments based on relevant national legal frameworks as well as regional and international obligations for democratic elections. The Center characterizes its observation mission in Guyana as a “limited mission” because no long-term observers were deployed outside of Georgetown in the preelection period, and the limited time period covered prior to election day.
Access the full report HERE
