GEORGETOWN, Guyana, (CMC) – United States (US) Ambassador to Guyana Sarah-Ann Lynch, says the US stands ready to work with the next democratically elected Administration of Guyana.

“After the people of Guyana have spoken, the United States stands ready to work with the next democratically elected administration, and I encourage all parties to respect the outcome,” said Lynch in a statement late Saturday.

The ambassador, who just returned from the worldwide US ambassador’s conference in Washington added: “There is great interest in free, fair, and peaceful Guyanese elections on March 2 [today]. I encourage all registered voters to exercise their franchise in a peaceful manner and to allow others to do the same.”

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) says there are 661,378 registered voters, all of whom are eligible to cast their ballots at 2,339 polling stations across the country.

Final election results are not expected before Friday, although the commission is allowed 15 days to do so.

The elections appear to be a straight fight between 74-year-old David Granger’s A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change and the People’s Progressive Party whose presidential candidate is 39-year-old Irfaan Ali.

GECOM has cut ties with a presiding officer for the election after it received information and evidence of her campaigning for the main opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic ( PPP/Civic).

GECOM says that Jenny Shaw, was slated to work as a presiding officer today, but based on evidence of her campaigning for a political party, she was dismissed.

GECOM Public Relations Officer, Yolanda Ward confirmed that the presiding officer had been “removed”.

Presiding officers are responsible for overseeing the election process, tallying the votes at the close of polling, as well as preparing the statements of polls for their polling stations.

During training, the Elections Commission warned its staff members against being involved in campaigning or partisan political activities.