1980 Guyanese general election

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1980 Guyanese general election

← 1973 15 December 1980 1985 →

53 of the 65 seats in the National Assembly
33 seats needed for a majority
Registered493,550
Turnout406,265 (82.31%)
  First party Second party Third party
  Forbes Burnham (1966).jpg Cheddi Jagan Anefo.jpg
Leader Forbes Burnham Cheddi Jagan
Party PNC PPP TUF
Leader since 13 February 1955 1 January 1950 January 1969
Seats won
53 / 65
10 / 65
2 / 65
Seat change Increase16 Decrease4 Steady
Popular vote 312,988 78,414 11,612
Percentage 77.66% 19.46% 2.88%

1980 Guyanese general election - Results.svg
Results by district

President before election

Forbes Burnham
PNC

Elected President

Forbes Burnham
PNC

General elections were held in Guyana on 15 December 1980.[1] The result was a victory for the People's National Congress, which won 41 of the 53 directly-elected seats. However, the PNC's victory was the result of fraud as the government had direct control of the elections.[2] Voter turnout was 82.3%.[1]

Electoral system[]

The elections followed the adoption of a new constitution which changed the presidency from a ceremonial post to an executive one and enlarged the National Assembly. In addition to the existing 53 members elected by proportional representation in a nationwide constituency, the National Assembly was expanded to include ten members appointed by the regional councils, created under the new constitution and , and two appointed by the National Congress of Local Democratic Organs, an umbrella body representing the regional councils also created by the new constitution.[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[]

PartyVotes%Seats
ElectedRegional
appointees
NCLDO
appointees
Total+/–
People's National Congress312,98877.664110253+16
People's Progressive Party78,41419.46100010–4
United Force11,6122.8820020
Total403,014100.005310265+12
Valid votes403,01499.20
Invalid/blank votes3,2510.80
Total votes406,265100.00
Registered voters/turnout493,55082.31
Source: Nohlen, Chandisingh

References[]

  1. ^ a b Dieter Nohlen (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p363 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6
  2. ^ Nohlen, p355-359
  3. ^ a b "Guyana's new Constitution and the elections of 1980: A case of people's power?", Rajendra Chandisingh
Retrieved from ""