Losing parties APNU, WIN now seeking recount despite watching and signing off on every vote counted

Opposition parties APNU and WIN are seeking a recount of votes in some electoral districts despite their agents witnessing and signing off on both the count and tabulation of votes in every polling station and district.

All local and international observer groups have praised the elections as being free and fair and without irregularities. The call for a recount is seen as a delaying tactic designed to frustrate the population and prevent a speedy declaration of the results. The results are all posted on the website of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), and it is easy to see that the PPP has won the elections.

APNU is stunned by its fall in its key strongholds of Region Four and Ten to newcomer WIN. By his own admission, the opposition leader, Aubrey Norton, reeling from the shock defeat, finds it hard to believe it could have been defeated by WIN. That party’s leader, Azruddin Mohamed, who desired the presidency after sanctions were imposed on him by the United States, has indicated his party will also seek recounts.

Speaking of his shock defeat to WIN in a video statement posted on social media, APNU leader Aubrey Norton said the party had “seen in Region Four something very implausible – that we will drop from 120,000-plus votes to 40-something thousand.” He is also clearly in shock from the defeat in Region 10, saying “in Region 10, [we went from] complete domination to having lost the region.”

The incumbent PPP has taken the largest bloc of votes in Region Four and WIN has overtaken the traditional support of the PNC-led APNU. In Region Ten, the PPP held on to its numbers and saw a marginal increase, while WIN dominated APNU and took away its support.

GECOM said it received a formal request from APNU for a recount in Sub-District 4 of District 4 and will begin the process on Thursday, using 25 workstations to ensure uninterrupted exercise until completion.

Chief Election Officer Vishnu Persaud has asked all political parties to have at least one accredited agent present at each station.

APNU’s claims come despite the availability of Statements of Poll (SOPs) that were uploaded within 24 hours of voting, with all political parties having signed identical copies after witnessing the count at polling stations.

International observer missions – including those from the Commonwealth, the Organization of American States, and the European Union – said the elections were conducted in a peaceful, transparent, and orderly manner, and praised GECOM for the timely publication of results.

The recount in District 4, the most populous electoral area, is being closely watched as the country awaits the final certification of results from the September 1 vote.

The move by APNU revives memories of Guyana’s disputed 2020 election, when controversy over the tabulation of votes in District 4 led to a protracted standoff that ended only after a national recount and months of international pressure.

At that time, then-president David Granger, APNU’s leader, eventually conceded defeat to the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) after the United States imposed sanctions.