You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Spanish. (June 2021) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Spanish Wikipedia article at [[:es:Elecciones generales de Guyana de 1980]]; see its history for attribution.
You may also add the template {{Translated|es|Elecciones generales de Guyana de 1980}} to the talk page.
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 elected on the same date as the national members, 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-postdouble 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]