Presidential candidate of APNU, Aubrey Norton
GEORGETOWN, Guyana--Leaders of the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) parties have requested recounts in various regions for the 2025 General and Regional Elections.
Both leaders alleged that irregularities perpetrated at the level of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) have led to their purported defeat in the regions at the center of contention. They have already made requests for recounts to GECOM in Regions Four and Eight.
APNU’s presidential candidate, Aubrey Norton said in a live broadcast, that requests were made to GECOM for recounts in Regions Four, Seven and Ten. However, GECOM has only acceded to the party’s request for the recount of the ballots cast in the (East Coast Demerara) or Sub-District 4 of District 4. The Elections Commission said it deemed that recount request a valid one.
In this regard, the commission said it will conduct the recount on Thursday, September 4, 2025 from 8:00hrs, using a total of 25 workstations. The recount exercise will proceed uninterrupted until completion.
“In view of the foregoing development, the Chief Election Officer, Mr. Vishnu Persaud has written to all political parties informing of the APNU’s request and the need for each party to ensure that at least one accredited agent is present for each workstation,” GECOM said in a release.
Meanwhile, in a live broadcast via the APNU Facebook page, Norton raised contention about what he deemed as irregularities in the GECOM procedure.
“From the inception, there was contention a padded list will increase the conditions for irregularities. In these elections, we are convinced that is the case,” Norton said. He described the party’s defeat in their stronghold regions’ as implausible.
The APNU leader explained, “We have seen in Region Four something that is very implausible that we would drop from 120,000 plus votes to 40 something thousand. It has never happened in any elections in the world.”
He noted too that in Region Ten, the party moved from complete domination of the region to having lost the region. “This is something we have never seen in this country,” Norton said. Added to this, he noted that in the count for Region Four, there were unsigned Statements of Polls (SoPs) there were also Statement of Polls that had no numbers.
“We will continue to pursue these issues. We have spoken with other opposition parties and so they are aware of our position. We want to urge that this is not the end. We are going to challenge these results until we get to the bottom of how these irregularities and illegalities occur,” he assured.
Similarly, WIN’s Presidential candidate Azruddin Mohamed said that the party has had numerous and credible reports of grave irregularities in the conduct of the 2025 elections According to the WIN leader, “Reports of statement of polls going missing, tampering of ballot boxes, and intimidation. We have also made aware of the voting by Bangladeshi, Venezuelans even though they do not reside in Guyana for the prescribed amount of time. These are grave matters that undermine the pillars of our democracy.”
Mohamed described the elections as neither free nor fair. “Numerically and politically, it is impossible for the PPP to have won in Region Four where they have little or no serious support.” He also said his polling agents were offered bribes such as house lots and money to stay away from the polling stations.
Mohamed said that as result, his party is seeking recount in a number of regions including Region Eight. This request was however rejected by GECOM. According to WIN, the request was denied because the party representative who submitted the request for recount was not properly accredited to do so.
The WIN party said it rejects the position taken by GECOM in its letter dated September 3, 2025, which dismisses the request for a recount in District #8 (Potaro–Siparuni).
The party explained that the candidate in question was duly nominated and officially appointed by its elections agent to serve as the agent at the count.
“This appointment is valid under the law and cannot be arbitrarily disregarded. We note with concern that while GECOM acknowledges our candidate’s accreditation for the count at Mahdia Primary School, it now seeks to disqualify her from exercising her lawful role at the wider district level. This contradiction undermines the fairness and transparency of the process,” WIN said in a statement.
Moreover, the party claimed that when the figures were released on Form 24 for District#8 Potaro-Siparuni, discrepancies become apparent. “The numbers are off, and this only reinforces the urgent need for a full recount in District Eight. The people of Guyana deserve nothing less than an election that is credible, transparent, and free from arbitrary restrictions on lawful representatives.”
The party claims further that the serious irregularities have already come to light. According to the release, State-aligned Newsroom published the very Form 24 which exposed discrepancies in the figures, only to later remove it from their platform.
“This act of concealment underscores the skullduggery at play and deepens public suspicion about the integrity of the process,” the party alleges. ~Kaieteur News~
