Guyana Elections 2025: Controversy erupts as WIN claims that officers forced to prove votes for PPP/C

Guyana: With only 9 days left to the General and Regional September 1 elections, accusations on dishonesty have begun to arise, with the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party has accused the PPP/C government of forcing officers to take pictures of their ballots to prove support and secure promotion, breaking GECOM’s rules and violating their rights. 

The accusation posted to the party's Facebook page came a day after the members of the disciplined forces took their voting at the different stations across the country on the Friday of August 22, between 6:00h and 18:00 h. 

The accusations surfacing on the Facebook social media platforms portray images of the ballots showcasing that one of the officers allegedly checked a vote for the PPP/C and took the photo. 

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As of now no political party nor the Guyana Election Commission (GECOM) have responded to the claims as GECOM noted yesterday that the election process went along in a calm and orderly manner across all voting areas. 

Even Presidential Candidate for the WIN party Azruddin Mohamed visited some of the voting stations to observe the Disciplined Services voting at the Police Headquarters, Eve Leary. 

While being there, Azzurdin noted that the process is moving along well and he was only there to observe the voting process and he has no complaints yet. 

The image surfaced on social media despite GECOM strictly banning the use of cellphones in polling stations that was released days before the voting process amid concerns of vote-selling which is punishable by a fine and imprisonment. 

Even former mayor of Georgetown, Ubraj Narine took to Facebook to comment on the development, saying that, “Despite the clear rules that are set by GECOM — NO CELLPHONES in the voting booth, somehow polling agents are allowing it. Corruption already in motion! Votes being bought by the PPP.”

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Notably, in Guyana, it is a tradition for members of the Disciplined Forces to vote ahead of the general public to allow them to be deployed for security duties on the final Election Day scheduled to take place on September 1.

GECOM and PPP/C are yet to respond to the accusations but the allegations have been met with outrage from some of the citizens of Guyana  while some claim that they are lies meant to defame the PPP/C party. 

While some supporters of the WIN party highlighted that the phones of the officers were not taken away so there is a big possibility that the officers had to do so to keep their jobs.