The 2023 Guyanese local elections, officially due since 2020, were held on Monday, June 12, 2023, following the latest delay of the officially biennial polls by three years due to lawsuits and vacanies at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) following the fallout and misconduct of the
2020 Guyanese general election
Snap general elections were held in Guyana on 2 March 2020. They were called early after the government of President David A. Granger lost a vote of no confidence by a margin of 33–32 on 21 December 2018, and the
COVID-19 pandemic. All 1,220 council seats within 610 constituencies across Guyana's 80 local authority areas (LAAs), comprising 70 neighbourhood democratic councils (NDCs) and 10 municipalities are being conteted. GECOM has stated that voting is not required in 291 constituencies in which the ruling
People's Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has won by
acclamation due to no other candidates running against them. As a result the PPP/C has retained control and has won allseats in LAAs such as the NDCs of Leguan, La Jalousie/Nouvelle Flanders, Canals Polder, Little Diamond/Herstelling, Ordnance Fort Lands/ No. 38, Kintyre/No. 37 or Borlam, Kilcoy/Hampshire, Port Mourant/John, Bloomfield/Whim, No. 64/No. 74, the municipality of Lethem and has also gained control of the Aranaputa/ Upper Burro Burro NDC. The PPP/C is hoping to win over
A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)/
People's National Congress Reform (PNCR)opposition strongholds, campaigning heavily in Guyana's capital city,
Georgetown, which has remained in APNU/PNCR control since independence from the
United Kingdom in 1966. Efforts by the PNCR to postpone or cancel the elections via litigation regarding the
electoral roll and local government constituency boundaries, were dismissed by Guyana's High Court in the lead-up to these elections, claiming that, these issues are behind its no-contest of 291 constituencies across the 80 LAAs. The opposition
Alliance for Change (AFC), the junior coalition partner of the APNU, has boycotted the 2023 local elections over similar concerns.
For the last election in 2018, there were 1192 council seats in 596 constituencies, across Guyana's 80 local authority areas, comprising 70 neighbourhood democratic council (NDCs) and 10 municipalities.
Number of votes cast and seats held prior to the election
The major political parties are defending the following numbers of electoral districts from local authority areas on election day:
*
A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) – 68,060 votes (33.7%), 188 Proportional Representation seats (31.5%),
23 local authority areas
*
People's Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) – 122,307 votes (60.5%), 386 Proportional Representation seats (64.8%),
52 local authority areas
*
Alliance for Change (AFC) – 8,719 votes (4.18%),
14 Proportional Representation seats (31.5%), 0 local authority areas
* Four different voluntary groups – 2,995 votes (1.44%), 8 Proportional Representation seats (1.34%),
0 local authority areas
These numbers are how many votes
and seats each party had won at the previous election, in 2018, rather than which party held the seat on the eve of the election.
Eligibility to vote
All registered electors (
Guyanese,
Commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
and
Non-Commonwealth citizens) who will be aged 18 or over, resided legally in Guyana and have resided in an electoral district/constituency for a least two months prior to the election date are entitled to vote in the local elections.
Parties, alliances and standings
Political parties registered with the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) can contest the local elections.
Campaign slogans
Opinion polls
The North American Caribbean Teachers Association (NACTA) who commissions opinion polling for elections in the region, sampling the electorates' opinions, has been criticized for not being quantitative and instead being qualitative by containing no statistical figures whatsoever and also for not publishing its methodology, with missing information such as sample size, how the sample is chosen and margin of erro. The pollster has also been criticised for being outdated by not having a website where the full surveys can be accessible.
Local authority area projections
Summary results
Elections are conducted under both a
proportional representation and
first-past-the-post list system.
Results by local authority areas
See also
*
2020 Guyanese general election
Snap general elections were held in Guyana on 2 March 2020. They were called early after the government of President David A. Granger lost a vote of no confidence by a margin of 33–32 on 21 December 2018,
*
2020 Guyanese protests The 2020 Guyanese protests were mass protests and rioting against the results of the 2020 Guyanese general election in March 2020 in Guyana and claimed there was electoral voter fraud during the campaigns, calling for the end of the political crisis ...
*
2023 Trinidadian local elections
The 2023 Trinidadian local elections were held on Monday, August 14, 2023, across all 141 electoral districts in Trinidad's 14 municipal corporation electoral areas. The elections follow a 3-2 ruling on May 18, 2023, from the United Kingdom's Jud ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guyanese local elections, 2023
Local elections
In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...
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2023
Events
Predicted and scheduled events
* January 1
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