1985 Guyanese general election
General elections were held in Guyana on 9 December 1985.[1] The result was a victory for the People's National Congress, which won 42 of the 53 directly-elected seats. However, the elections were marred by fraud and the People's Progressive Party and Working People's Alliance withdrew on election day.[2] Voter turnout was 73.8%.[1]
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53 of the 65 seats in the National Assembly 27 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 73.83% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Results by district | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Constitution |
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Guyana portal |
Electoral system
The National Assembly had 65 members; 53 elected by proportional representation in a nationwide constituency, 10 appointed by the Regional Councils elected on the same date as the national members, and 2 appointed by the National Congress of Local Democratic Organs, an umbrella body representing the regional councils.[3]
The President was elected by a first-past-the-post double simultaneous vote system, whereby each list nominated a presidential candidate and the candidate heading the list that received the most votes was elected president.[3]
Results
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elected | Regional appointees | NCLDO appointees | Total | +/– | ||||
| People's National Congress | 228,718 | 78.54 | 42 | 10 | 2 | 54 | +1 | |
| People's Progressive Party | 45,926 | 15.77 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | –2 | |
| United Force | 9,820 | 3.37 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Working People's Alliance | 4,176 | 1.43 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | New | |
| Democratic Labour Movement | 2,167 | 0.74 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New | |
| People's Democratic Movement | 232 | 0.08 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New | |
| National Democratic Front | 156 | 0.05 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New | |
| Total | 291,195 | 100.00 | 53 | 10 | 2 | 65 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 291,195 | 98.78 | ||||||
| Invalid/blank votes | 3,606 | 1.22 | ||||||
| Total votes | 294,801 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 399,304 | 73.83 | ||||||
| Source: Nohlen, IPU, Guyana News and Information | ||||||||
References
- Dieter Nohlen (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p363 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6
- Nohlen, p367
- "Guyana's new Constitution and the elections of 1980: A case of people's power?", Rajendra Chandisingh