Guyana Poll Findings don’t equate to supporting or opposing a party
Jun 16, 2025
Dear Editor,
Kaieteur News – I have been known to conduct election opinion surveys going back early 1990s. My colleagues, Dr. Ramharack, Vassan Ramracha, Ravi Dev, and Rennie Ramracha, I among others, started TRPI opinion polls in Guyana relating to the 1992 elections. Prior to that, Ramharack and I did surveys in the US and Guyana as part of our academic training for the doctorate; Ramharack also did investigative reporting in journalism that required surveys. I have continued the survey process under NACTA after Ramharack and others decided to take a break from polling in the mid-1990s. Vassan and a few others joined me in countless surveys in Guyana, Tobago, and Trinidad.
One challenge we faced as pollsters, and I still do in surveys, is being confronted by people on the streets in Guyana and in the diaspora, even individuals with degrees, who ask why we are (I am) supporting a particular party or candidate. They equate poll findings with the pollster favouring or opposing a party or a candidate. Just last week in New York, an Indo-Guyanese man, an avid supporter and defender of PPP, came up to me and asked why I wrote in a report a couple of weeks ago that a poll I conducted showed Azruddin Mohamed was very popular among the public. Another ardent PPP supporter, a couple weeks ago, queried why I wrote that the public wants Glenn Lall to run for office and or to team up with Mr. Mohamed. I also got criticism from PNC supporters who claim that I am biased against the PNC; AFC supporters also made a similar complaint because polls show they can’t win. A WPA supporter queried why it is not included in polling surveys. One fool wrote a few weeks ago that I will release a poll that will show PPP not winning a majority. How is that possible if a survey has not been conducted yet? Only from an idiot!
Polls asked questions, and the responses are collated or aggregated and reported. Publishing the findings must not be equated with favouring or opposing a party or candidate. That is not how polls work and or are interpreted, and certainly has never been the intention. Pollsters are not supposed to take sides or ask leading questions to get a certain response. Neither my colleagues nor I ever took sides when polling. We simply reported what we found from a random sampling of respondents that reflects the demographics of the population. The findings are from the public.
Several opinion polls were conducted over the last couple of years.
Objective polls, regardless of pollster or party commission, obtain findings that are similar. All the parties conducted polls and know the findings and their prospective chances or popular support. The PPP would not have called an election if it were not confident of the outcome. Azruddin would not have thrown his hat in the ring if he thought he wouldn’t do well. The other opposition would know from their polling if they are struggling. Any poll not showing PPP in the lead is questionable. The APNU and AFC have minuscule Indian support. Azruddin has support among all ethnic and religious groups. Anyone who conducted or commissioned polls knows the actual support of each party at this time.
Yours Truly,
Vishnu Bisram
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