Two months after Elections Day, Guyana still to declare a winner… Other countries have done so in less than a week

May 12, 2020 News

Guyana is one of five countries that have held its General Elections within the past few months but it is the only country that has not yet declared credible results. Togo, Taiwan, Vanuatu and Artsakh have all managed to complete their electoral process in less a week. Even more astounding, the number of Guyanese voters who turned up to cast their ballots is just a fraction of the millions who voted in Taiwan and Togo.
Togo, a West African country whose population surpasses seven million, held its elections on the 23rd of February earlier this year. According to an Aljazeera report, polls were opened from 7:00HRS that morning and closed at approximately 17:00 HRS in the evening. Immediately after the closing of polls, the Constitutional Court of Togo issued a statement claiming that out of 3,738,786 registered voters, 3,449,000 had cast ballots. They had also informed the Togolese People that the official declaration of results would be made in a matter of days. Six days later on March 4, as promised the court declared Togo’s election results and announced President Faure Gnassingbé of the Union for the Republic Party (URP),winner. Despite protest actions by opposing parties questioning the credibility of the declared results, order was restored quickly and the reelected president was sworn into office.
The Taiwan Electoral Commission had also prioritized its duty to declare its country’s election results in a fast and convenient manner to avoid unrest. In a matter of just only four hours after 19,311,000 Taiwanese had completed casting their ballots on January 11, 2020, a winner was declared.
Vanuatu and Artsahk whose population closely mimics that of Guyana also followed suit and made sure that credible elections results were delivered shortly after polls were closed. Vanuatu a small country comprising of 80 islands in the South Pacific Ocean held its General Elections on the 19 and 20 of March, 2020. The electoral process saw 145,064 of the country’s 278,959 registered casting their ballots in the two days timeframe. According to the Vanuatu Electoral Office report, the counting of the ballots were completed in a matter of four days and the Leaders Party of Vanuatu were declared victors.
Artsahk another relatively small republic in Eastern Europe, with a population of only a 150,000 people, also held its election in the month of March. March 31 saw 104,886 voters heading to the country’s polling stations to cast their ballots. After three days of waiting, the Artsahk Elections Commission declared results and proclaimed the Free Motherland Party winners. Without another day wasted, the presidential candidate, Arayik Harutyunyan, was sworn in to office.
Despite a relatively smooth voting day process on March 2, Guyana has since been involved in a protracted post-electoral battle beginning with controversial declarations of Region Four results made by returning officer, Clairmont Mingo and culminating in a recount process, starting last week, that is now projected to extend beyond the original 25 days allotted.

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