Carter Centre accredited for 2020 elections

The Carter Centre has been accredited to observe the 2020 elections, an official of the Guyana Elections Commission, (GECOM) confirmed yesterday.
Kaieteur News understands that the Carter Centre team will be in Guyana before and after the elections.

Last March, a Carter Center delegation led by Jason J. Carter, chairman of the Carter Center’s Board of Trustees, was in Guyana and held meeting with key stakeholders to learn about the challenges facing Guyana and to assess whether the Center could assist Guyanese going forward.

Guyana moved into constitutional uncertainty after March 22, which marked the end of a three-month period following a contested vote of no confidence and the deadline to hold elections.
Carter Center had issued an official statement following meeting with officials of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

Among other things, the Center had called for the immediate convening of the National Assembly to extend the 90-day timeline for elections.
The Center also said that GECOM commissioners have recognised that the current voters list is bloated.

The Center has been working with Guyana to ensure free and fair elections since 1992.
Its founder is former US President Jimmy Carter who has visited Guyana on a number of occasions, including for the 2015 elections.

In 2015, the Carter Centre brought six medium term observers comprising three teams of two persons each, which were deployed in regions.
The Carter Centre then had at least 30 short-term observers deployed closer to the Election Day.
A total of 42 persons are expected to complete the Carter Center’s Observer Mission.

The preliminary logistical plan for the medium term observer teams, include one team to cover Regions Two, Three and Seven; another for Regions Five and Six with one for Regions One, Eight and Nine.