WPA Says GECOM Cannot Be Trusted to Deliver Free and Fair Elections
By Travis Chase | HGP Nightly News
The Working People’s Alliance (WPA) has once again questioned the credibility of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), saying the body has validated long-standing concerns that it cannot be depended upon to deliver free and fair elections.
At a press conference on Wednesday, WPA Leader and newly sworn-in MP under the APNU list, Dr. David Hines, argued that GECOM remains a compromised institution. He pointed to issues surrounding the 2020 elections and what he described as “questionable recounts” of at least two districts during the 2025 General and Regional Elections.
“Our argument that elections were not free and fair is not based on anything discernible to the naked eye, but it is implicit in the fact that the electoral system itself is rigged,” Hines said.
According to him, a bloated voters’ list continues to open avenues for irregularities and malpractice, especially if oversight is absent. He insisted that only a forensic audit of the ballots—similar to that conducted after the 2020 elections—can determine whether fraud was committed.
“You can’t have a rigged electoral system and free and fair elections. They are inconsistent with each other,” he told reporters, adding that oversight failures by GECOM have left the system vulnerable.
Hines revealed that Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton has since written to the GECOM Chair requesting such an audit, stressing that an election petition alone would not uncover irregularities that occur before election day.
When asked directly if the WPA possesses evidence of fraud in the 2025 polls, Hines admitted they do not have “naked eye evidence” but said the flaws lie in “the electoral architecture and practices at GECOM.”
GECOM officials could not be reached for comment on the WPA’s allegations.
