EAB REPORT ON 2006 ELECTIONS: FREE AND FAIR, BUT

C O N F I D E N T I A L GEORGETOWN 000295

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/21/2017
TAGS: PGOV KDEM OAS GY
SUBJECT: EAB REPORT ON 2006 ELECTIONS: FREE AND FAIR, BUT
NOT TOTALLY ACCURATE

Classified By: Ambassador David M. Robinson for reasons 1.4(b) and (d)


1. (U) SUMMARY: More than six months after election day, the
local Electoral Assistance Bureau (EAB) released its Final
Report on Guyana's 2006 National and Regional Elections. The
EAB declared the elections "free and fair" and found the
Final Declaration of Results was "largely representative of
the collective will of the Guyanese people." Citing
discrepencies in vote count totals in two separate regions,
however, the EAB stated that they "cannot conclued that the
award of (Parliamentary) seats fully reflects the will of the
Guyanese people." The Report called on the Guyana Elections
Commission (GECOM) to review the final results and discuss
its findings with the parties that contested the elections.

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ELECTIONS WERE FREE AND FAIR
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2. (U) Although Guyana's 2006 National and Regional Elections
took place last August, it took the EAB more than six months
to release their Final Report on the vote. The EAB is an
accredited local observer group whose analysis of the
Guyanese elections was self-funded. The EAB's 50-page Final
Report looked at numerous aspects of the electoral process,
including: (1) freedom to campaign; (2) freedom of the media;
(3) opportunity to register; (4) disenfranchisement; (5)
freedom to vote; (6) multiple voting; (7) polling validity;
and (8) additional checks on Returning Officers' and Chief
Executive Officers' statements. In conclusion, the EAB's
Report reaches the same results as other observers (including
the Organization of American States and Commonwealth
Secretariat) - the elections were, by and large, "free and

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fair" and reflective of the collective will of the people.

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VOTE DISCREPENCIES WARRANT CONCERN
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3. (U) The EAB Report did, however, express concern over
discrepencies in the vote count in two of Guyana's ten
regions. In analyzing the GECOM's verified Declaration of
Results of the Regional Elections, EAB found that
disrepencies in Region Five and Region Ten were significant
enough that they could have a "material impact" on the award
of National Assembly and Regional Democratic Council seats.
Due to this fact, the EAB found that they "cannot conclude
that the award of the seats fully reflects the will of the
Guyanese people." The EAB's Report called on GECOM to review
the tabulation of the results and its award of seats. It
further suggested that GECOM should invite the political
parties which contested the elections to discuss the way
forward.

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COMMENT
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4. (C) The EAB's Final Report adds little to the overall
picture of the 2006 elections-- they reached many of the same
conclusions as the other international observer groups. They
are, however, the only group to address the discrepencies in
the vote count. Using the same information available to the
political parties and observer groups, GECOM Chairman Steve
Surjubally told the U.S., U.K., Canada, E.U., and U.N. Chiefs
of Mission that Guyana's Chief Elections Officer had
misreported the election results and had known the results
were inaccurate when he gazetted them. However, since
neither of the two affected political parties have pursued
the issue with any vigor, we are not inclined to do so
either.
Robinson