AFC RENEWS CALL FOR CENSUS COMPLETION AHEAD OF SEPTEMBER ELECTIONS
Tiana Cole | HGP Nightly News
With Guyana set to head to the polls on September 1 for General and Regional Elections, Chairman of the Alliance For Change (AFC), David Patterson, is once again calling for the urgent completion of the National Population and Housing Census.
Speaking with Nightly News, Patterson contended that the current Official List of Electors is “severely bloated” and that repeated calls by his party for electoral reform have been ignored by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
“The census is overdue, it was promised, and it is unfair to this country to head into national elections with such concerns—without the proper data to back them up,” Patterson emphasized.
His remarks follow mounting concerns over voter data integrity, particularly in light of the increasing number of migrant registrations in the country.
Just last month, during the 104th Sitting of the National Assembly, Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn disclosed that 15,157 Venezuelans were registered in Guyana between 2018 and 2024. Of that figure, only 23 are said to reside in Region 4, the country’s most densely populated region.
The data was provided in response to a question posed by Opposition Member of Parliament Tabitha Sarabo-Halley, who serves as Shadow Minister of Public Service. The minister further outlined the regional distribution of the Venezuelan registrants:
- Region 1: 7,057
- Region 4: 23
- Region 7: 1,111
- Region 8: 865
The AFC is concerned that in an election year, the absence of updated census results—combined with a large number of foreign nationals—could call into question the integrity and transparency of the elections.
Patterson said it is against this backdrop that the AFC is urging GECOM to implement precise mechanisms that would guarantee accountability and electoral fairness when voters head to the polls in September.
