The largest observer group at the 2006 general elections has not endorsed the allocation of seats for the National Assembly and RDCs, though it says the polls were free and fair and that the declared results were mostly representative of the will of the people.
In its final report on the 2006 polls, the Electoral Assistance Bureau (EAB) noted discrepancies found in the results for Districts Five and Ten. "…Small though they are, [these discrepancies] can have a material impact on the award of National Assembly and Regional Democratic Council seats," it explained. "The EAB cannot conclude that the award of seats fully reflects the will of the Guyanese people."
As a result, the observer group has called on the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to review its tabulation of the results and its award of seats at the national and regional levels. It also suggested that GECOM consider inviting political parties which contested the elections to discuss the way forward.
The August 28 elections have been accepted by all the contesting parties and endorsed by all the international observer groups, including the OAS, the Commonwealth, and the Carter Center.
However, the PNCR has challenged the quality of the elections process in an elections petition. The AFC, which has also filed a petition, has also claimed that an analysis of the results for District Ten showed that it was entitled to an extra seat. (The party's claim was also substantiated by the EAB's analysis of the Statements of the Poll for District Ten). The JFAP also made a subsequent claim to a seat based on an analysis. The bases for the claims are the errors in the results of the elections that were discovered during an analysis that was done by former GECOM commissioner Haslyn Parris.
Owing to the existing court cases, GECOM has refused to publicly comment on the cases.
The EAB fielded 1,482 observers countrywide on polling day and 72.83% of them rated the validity of the polls as "totally acceptable;" and 26.73% of them rated it as "acceptable."
The EAB said its comparative analysis of general election results for Districts One, Three, Six and Nine verified GECOM's declaration of results. It did find discrepancies in GECOM's declaration for results in Districts Two, Four, Five, Seven, Eight and Ten. However, it said the discrepancies in Two and Seven are so negligible that they are unlikely to affect the award of Top-Up National Assembly Seats or Geographic Constituency seats. The EAB said its analysis of regional results for Districts One and Nine, verified GECOM's declaration of results. It did find discrepancies in GECOM's results for District Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight and Ten. Again, it added that the discrepancies for the declarations in Two, Three, and Seven are so negligible that they are unlikely to affect the award of RDC seats. However, it said the discrepancies found in the regional election results for District Five are likely to affect GECOM's award of RDC seats. Parris had said he found that the seat allocation should have resulted in the PPP/C with 35 seats; PNCR-1G 22; AFC 5; GAP-ROAR 1; TUF 1; and JFAP 1. He explained that his findings differed from GECOM's officially declared results by allocating a seat to the JFAP and reducing by one the 36 seats allocated to the PPP/C. He said it also indicated that the five AFC seats should have been two from the geographical constituencies Four and Ten, and three from the top-up list. Parris communicated his findings to GECOM, and afterward PNCR leader Robert Corbin called on the commission to ensure that the official results accurately reflect the will of the electorate.