GECOM and the 2020 General and Regional Elections in Guyana: Constitutional Powerhouse or Political Powerlessness?

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is a remarkably young institution in a nation which has held reasonably democratic elections prior to independence but with increasing difficulties over the years. Given evidence of manifest electoral manipulations, and with the assistance of the regional community and international assistance, the modern Election Management Body, that is, the GECOM was established as the only regulatory body responsible for the conduct of elections. While the GECOM has confronted an agglomeration of issues since its establishment, the March 2, 2020 general and regional elections in Guyana cast grave doubt on the efficacy of the GECOM, which is legally and politically an extremely powerful body, provided with constitutional a plethora of other powers. The weaknesses displayed by the GECOM during the entire election period (extending to the recount period until a final victor was proclaimed on August 2, 2020) suggest that despite the apparent powers of the Commission, it has been rendered ineffectual. This article starts by briefly discussing the factors leading to the establishment of GECOM as a non-partisan election Commission. Next, this article examines the power of GECOM by providing an overview of GECOM's constitutional status as well as related election law, followed by a brief discussion of GECOM's inadequacy given its power at law. The article then assesses the controversy of the 2020 general and regional elections and the machinations of the various political forces with GECOM's complicity or inability to manage the outcome of the process in what can only be viewed as political powerlessness. The article concludes by emphasising the importance of having clear procedures for dealing with disputes over electors to ensure the legitimacy of the outcome, and reducing the level of political partisanship at the level of the organisation which may instill confidence in the electoral process.