FROM THE FIELD: International IDEA Audits Guyana Elections

"The Audit Team were not able to find any evidence of deliberate manipulation or electoral fraud in relation to any of the errors or activities that were the subject of this audit".

This was one of the findings of the International IDEA Systems Review and Audit Report of the 19 March 2001 Guyana election. The report was submitted to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) 3 August and made public to political parties, the media and other groups 9 August 2001.

The establishment and maintenance of public and political party confidence in the credibility and integrity of a nation's electoral management system is an extremely difficult and delicate task. This is especially so after a series of problematic elections associated with serious outbreaks of violence, as was previously the case in Guyana.

This year's Guyana elections, however, were conducted under the auspices of the national electoral management structure, and with the support of most of the major donors and electoral support organizations. Despite this, the past record combined with intense inter-party rivalry created a level of distrust and conflict that threatened the election result, further violence and the democratic order in Guyana.

A Systems Review and Audit was commissioned at the request of the GECOM, and conducted by an international expert team assembled by International IDEA and funded by international donors, with Peter Harris (International IDEA, South Africa) as the team leader. The objective of the audit was, says the report, to assess GECOM's conduct of the March election by examining identified areas of the electoral process. More specifically, the International IDEA team's mandate was to:

• Review the compilation of the final electoral list including the registration of voters and the processes culminating in the official list of electors;
  

• Assess the production and distribution of the national identification card;
  

• Assess arrangements for the casting of votes including the siting of polling stations and operational planning;
  

• Review the human resource and training components of elections staffing, with particular focus on the highly contested area of recruitment of electoral staff.

The final report outlines a set of recommendations covering each of these areas. An overall objective of the audit was to put forward recommendations and findings that would contribute to the building of public confidence in GECOM, and improve the efficiency and professionalism of GECOM in their delivery of a transparent and fair electoral process.

"International IDEA was called upon as a professional body to provide an objective assessment and audit of the electoral system and its implementation. This involved a carefully selected team, a sensitive advance assessment mission and a meticulous, substantial audit. The audit team's report revealed that there were certain system and administrative problems with the election. However, it also found that there was no evidence of deliberate fraud or manipulation in the areas that were the subject of the audit. The report was accepted by GECOM and its recommendations are now being assessed in detailed with a view to implementation", says International IDEA Director of Programmes Professor Reg Austin.

"For a country that was dogged by the nightmare of rigged elections between 1968 and 1985, the IDEA report is another testament to the credible elections that followed the restoration of democracy in 1992", said the Guyanan Stabroek News in an article published 13 August.