When polling stations opened at 6 o’ clock this morning, APNU Presidential Candidate, Aubrey Norton, was first in line at his polling place at Plaisance on the East Coast of Demerara.

Mr. Norton was first to cast his ballot at his polling station, but said he had to raise some concern about the incorrect positioning of the voting compartment in the station.

“The law says that the scrutineers must see the body of the person voting, they must be able to see, and exception for one, all the rest were wrong. So, I had them changed them,” Norton said.

Political parties, including the APNU have been concerned about reports of vote buying which could be facilitated through the illegal photographing and publication of ballots.

Already one case of a voter’s ballot being circulated on social media has been detected, and the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has issued a fresh reminder to voters not to use their cell phones while casting their ballots.,

Aside from that issue, Norton told reporters that voting at the Plaisance Secondary School appeared normal, with no major issues.

He said today’s elections should be seen as critical to the maintenance of democracy in the country.

“I would say that these elections are critical because it is an opportunity to ensure there is a reallocation of the resources that come from oil to the people of Guyana, rather than the present approach which most of the resources go to family, friends and favorites. The second thing that makes these elections important is that the Government has launched on a path of directing, dominating and controlling public servants, so in some regard, a victory for us is a victory for freedom,” Norton said.

He encouraged everyone to go out and cast their vote in the election.

“In the first case, when you do not vote, you are going to allow people to make decisions for you without your input. So, the first thing I would say to young people, you must look at the manifestos, look at the policies and then make a decision as to where to vote,” he said.

In Eccles, Presidential Candidate for the We Invest in Nationhood party, Azruddin Mohamed was up early at his polling station to cast his ballot. He said the process was a smooth one although he had some concern about the time it took for the voting process to be completed at that particular voting station.

“We hope that it can be faster throughout the country because we want everyone to ensure that they can cast their vote before 6pm…it was very slow because I just had five persons in front of me and it took 30 minutes, so we are hoping that it can be faster”, Mohamed said.

He also noted the importance of voting as he encouraged others to ensure they are out early at the polls to cast their ballots.

At the Demerara Lions Club in Providence, East Bank Demerara, Alliance for Change, Presidential Candidate, Nigel Hughes walked in at around 7 o’clock this morning along with his wife to cast his ballot.

After voting, Mr. Hughes reflected on this year’s election campaign and said it was a tough one.

“The campaign was a rough one but we went well, I think the AFC has done better than most people expected it to do,” Hughes said.

The AFC Leader also raised concerns over possible meddling in the country’s elections by neighboring Venezuela. His concerns were raised against the backdrop of the attacks against several elections officials and police officers reportedly by Venezuelan gangs in the Cuyuni River while transporting elections materials.

“We need to be prepared for Venezuela to take several acts that are likely to destabilize and that is one of them and we are have to be wary about attempted cyber interventions and other interventions, particularly on social media and otherwise and I hope collectively we stand as a country to resist whatever actions they take to disrupt this event,” Hughes said.

Mr. Hughes also urged young voters to go out and vote, saying that this elections will shape their future.

Back in Eccles, Presidential Candidate for the Forward Guyana Movement, Amanza Walton-Desir, said the process to cast her ballot was without issue.

“It was very smooth, quite uneventful with a light flow of persons in this area and so the polling staff seemed very confident and I thought that they gave excellent guidance and one of the things I liked is that they did not assume that I know how to vote, they went through it and explained everything and that was very important”, Walton-Desir said.

However, later in the morning, she found herself trying to see how best one of her candidates could be assisted as she is wheel chair bound and her polling station was on the top floor of a building with no wheel chair access. She said that was something that GECOM should have considered.

ALP Presidential Candidate, Simona Broomes voted in Bartica and she reported that the process went smoothly in that area also just after the opening of polls.

Just after 10′ o’ clock this morning, President Irfaan Ali arrived at his voting station in Leonora along with his wife, First Lady Arya Ali, to vote.

After casting his ballot, the President said he remains confident of being re-elected. He said the PPP ran a campaign that showcased its strengths.

“We did everything to plan a fantastic campaign and we ran a very positive campaign, a campaign based on track record, a campaign based on trust and commitment, one that is based on unity and our contry moving forward together and now as we said, the final part of this journey to victory is for all of our supporters to come out and ensure that they cast their vote and I continue to encourage all of them to come out and cast their vote and seal this victory”, he said.

The President said he believes he has the numbers on his side for victory.

“I am very confident about a victory, you’ve seen the numbers speak for themselves but as I said sealing the victory is important and that requires all of our supporters to come out and seal the victory with their vote”, Ali said.

There are over 750,000 persons on this year’s voters’ list and six political parties contesting across the country for their vote.

Related posts:

PPP Confident of victory in Monday’s elections; Encourages large voter turnout to ensure super majority Disciplined Services cast ballots early in Elections 2025 Attorney General issues early warning against voter intimidation and acts of xenophobia at upcoming elections Disciplined Services Members Vote early in large numbers