By Antonio Dey| HGP Nightly News |
GEORGETOWN, GUYANA — The Carter Center has released its observation report on Guyana’s 2025 General and Regional Elections, finding that significant improvements in the tabulation of results were undermined by concerns about state media coverage, weak civil society participation, and pressures on organisations working with marginalised communities.
The Carter Center’s most positive findings concerned the process by which votes were counted and tabulated. The report said the 2025 elections were conducted against the backdrop of the disputed 2020 elections, which had damaged public trust and led to reforms aimed at decentralisation and greater transparency.
According to the Center, those reforms were generally positive and contributed to a more efficient and transparent tabulation process. Carter Center observers found that tabulations were conducted in a “reasonable or very good manner” across all 17 tabulation centres. The public posting of Statements of Poll and the timely uploading of those documents to GECOM’s website were identified as major improvements over previous elections.
The Center also welcomed the establishment of a Constitutional Reform Commission and urged that all parliamentary parties be involved in what it described as an “inclusive, transparent, and timely” reform process.
While the Carter Center stated that it did not conduct systematic media monitoring, the report noted concerns raised with observers about the coverage provided by state media outlets — including their social media platforms — which opposition parties said favoured the ruling People’s Progressive Party / Civic (PPP/C).
Opposition parties told the Carter Center that they lack confidence in state-owned media, alleging that their campaign activities received limited or biased coverage, and that requests for coverage were often rejected. At the same time, some state media representatives told observers they experienced difficulties establishing and maintaining contact with opposition parties.
The National Communications Network (NCN) confirmed to the Carter Center that only the PPP/C had placed paid advertisements with the state broadcaster during the campaign period.
The Carter Center described weak civil society participation as an important deficiency in Guyana’s democracy. The report noted that while past elections had seen efforts to establish nonpartisan democracy and governance groups, none were active around the 2025 elections.
Although the business community and some professional organisations accredited citizen observers, Carter Center observers said they did not encounter nonpartisan domestic observers during polling, counting, or tabulation.
The report further noted that organisations working with marginalised communities — including Amerindian communities, persons with disabilities, and the LGBTI community — lack resources and have at times operated under fear of government retaliation, according to the Carter Center’s findings.
Carter Center Releases Observer Findings from the 2025 Guyana Elections May. 14, 2026 :https://www.cartercenter.org/news/carter-center-releases-observer-findings-from-the-2025-guyana-elections
