How Parliament and elections work

This page explains the system only. GuyanaHub does not take sides on parties or candidates.

The National Assembly

Guyana's Parliament has a single chamber, the National Assembly ^[1].

• It has 65 elected members. 25 come from the ten geographical constituencies, which match the ten administrative regions, and 40 are national "top-up" seats ^[1].
• Seats are shared out by proportional representation, using the largest remainder (Hare) formula ^[1].
• At least one third of each party's national top-up list must be women ^[1].
• The 13th Parliament held its first sitting on 3 November 2025 ^[2].

Elections

• General elections are constitutionally due every five years, and are usually held on a Monday. The President can call an election earlier by proclamation ^[1].
• The President is elected at the same general election, by simple majority, and is head of state and head of government ^[1].
• A person elected President after 2000 can be re-elected only once ^[1].
• Regional elections are usually held the same day as national elections. Local government elections are due every four years ^[1].
• Voting is voluntary, on one day between 6 am and 6 pm ^[1].
• Election disputes go to the High Court by election petition, with appeal to the Court of Appeal ^[1].
• The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) runs general, regional and local government elections and reports to the National Assembly ^[1].

Following Parliament

The Parliament website publishes ^[2]:

• sitting dates, live streams and video recordings;
• the status of bills, order papers, notice papers and motions;
• Hansard (the official record of debates);
• Acts of Parliament, subsidiary legislation and budget documents;
• information on petitions and committees; and
• details on public access to Parliament's buildings.

To check whether you are registered to vote, or to register, contact GECOM, 41 High and Cowan Streets, Kingston, Georgetown, +592 225-0277-9 ^[1].