Are 460’035 votes cast in the 2020 general elections credible?
Letter to the Editor – By Andre Brandli, PhD
I am a politically neutral observer of Guyanese and Swiss decent residing abroad. In response to the Caribbean Court of Justice decision of yesterday, I would like to draw attention to an obvious discrepancy, which remains unaddressed even after the CARICOM supervised recount.
According to the unofficial recount numbers, 460’035 valid votes were cast in the 2020 elections last March. Given my own assessment, we can expect about 477’910 eligible voters to be living in Guyana. These are adults, 18 years and older, which constitute about 62.3% of the Guyanese population[1]. My calculations are based on an estimated population of 782’766 for 2019[2]. The foreign population is about 2%[3] or 15’655, which would result in 767’111 Guyanese citizens living in Guyana. 62.3% or 477’910 Guyanese citizens would be of voting age. Hence, with 477’910 eligible voters living in Guyana and 460’035 votes cast in the 2020 general elections, the voter turnout would be 96.3%. This is rather unrealistic for the many reasons and uncommon in liberal democracies. Continue reading →
Jul 09, 2020 Kaieteur News
Incumbent President David Granger
Following yesterday’s historical ruling made by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), incumbent President David Granger as well as his campaign co-chairman of the governing coalition Joseph Harmon, have both said that the matter now lies within the confines of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
In sharing his reaction following the ruling, President Granger alluded to that fact that the CCJ rendered invalid the decision of Guyana’s Court of Appeal which had ruled on June 22 that Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, must calculate the election results on “valid votes”—thereby disenfranchising 115,844 voters. Continue reading →
Posted by: Denis Chabrol in – Demerara Waves – July 8, 2020
Political Scientist Peter Wickham on Wednesday said he did not expect the Chief Election Officer, Keith Lowenfield to present results to the seven-member Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) based on pronouncements by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) of what constitutes valid votes and the settlement of grievance through an elections petition.
“I am confident that he will say that there is no one can that can make him submit a new report, that he is comfortable with the report that he has submitted and if , it is, that he has to withdraw that report, prepare the same information in the report and submit it all over again, that is exactly what he will do and he will create a crisis,” Wickham said on a discussion on News-Talk Radio Guyana 103.1 FM/ Demerara Waves Online News shortly after the CCJ’s decision. Continue reading →
Letter to the Editor – By Andre Brandli, PhD
Guyana Politics: Why Guyana’s political stalemate matters – Washington Post
In a corner of South America along the Caribbean coast, a country is plunged into crisis. Rival camps see themselves as the rightful rulers of the nation and their opponents as would-be usurpers. Officials in regional organizations and foreign governments want those in power to step down and pave the way for a transition. And beneath it all lies the promise — and potential curse — of the country’s considerable and largely untapped oil reserves. Continue reading →
Share this: