2020 Trinidad and Tobago general election

The 41 members of the House of Representatives are elected by first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies. Registered voters must be 18 years and over, must reside in an electoral district/constituency for at least two months prior to the qualifying date, be a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago or a Commonwealth citizen residing legally in Trinidad and Tobago for a period of at least one year.[11]

If one party obtains a majority of seats, then that party is entitled to form the Government, with its leader as Prime Minister. If the election results in no single party having a majority, then there is a hung parliament. In this case, the options for forming the Government are either a minority government or a coalition government. [12]

Political parties registered with the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) can contest the general election as a party.[13]

The leader of the party commanding a majority of support in the House of Representatives is the person who is called on by the president to form a government as Prime Minister, while the leader of the largest party or coalition not in government becomes the Leader of the Opposition.[12]

Prior to the election, the People's National Movement, led by Prime Minister Keith Rowley formed a majority government. The largest opposition party was the United National Congress, led by Kamla Persad-Bissessar. The Congress of the People was the sole other party in Parliament, represented by a single MP.

The People's National Movement and the United National Congress have been the two biggest parties, in addition to having supplied every Prime Minister since 1991.[14]

On 14 July 2020, the leader of the Patriotic Front, Mickela Panday, announced that her party will no longer be contesting the 2020 elections due to lack of time to prepare for the August 2020 polls.[15]

The following registered parties are contesting the general election, the People's National Movement is the only party fielding all 41 seats (39 in Trinidad and two in Tobago), 14 parties are contesting seats in Trinidad only and four parties are contesting seats in Tobago only.[16]

The organization of the election was subject to the state Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC). There were no election observers. Prime Minister Rowley revealed after the election that he had invited observers from CARICOM and the Commonwealth of Nations, but they were unable to pay for the 14-day quarantine required of foreign visitors.[38]

Opinion research in the run-up to the election was carried out by the North American Caribbean Teachers Association (NACTA) and the management consultancy HHB Associates, among others. A NACTA poll shortly after the election date was announced, found that, as in most previous elections, only PNM and UNC would play a role.[39]  An HHB poll published July 25 in the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian found the ruling PNM at 53% and the UNC at 44%.[40] A NACTA poll from July 25, however, saw the UNC one percentage point ahead.[41]  At this point in time, the tendency, known from previous elections, was that Trinidadians with African roots tend to choose the PNM and Trinidadians with Indian roots rather the UNC.

The resignation of former deputy PNM chairwoman Nafeesa Mohammed on July 28, who accused the PNM leadership of arrogance, ignorance and incompetence, caused a media stir.[42]  The Leader of the Opposition, former Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, was threatened with death during the election campaign.[43] Minor parties and bodies called on the President to postpone the election in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, which was also rampant in Trinidad, but their requests were denied.[44] A UNC supporter was stabbed on the sidelines of a UNC election campaign on the Saturday before the election.[45]

The polling stations closed at 6:00 p.m. on election Monday.[46]

The following lists identify and rank seats by the margin by which the party's candidate finished behind the winning candidate in the 2015 election.

For information purposes only, seats that have changed hands through subsequent by elections have been noted. Seats whose members have changed party allegiance are ignored.

  = appears in two lists

Candidate nominations for the election were finalized on Nomination Day (July 17, 2020). The full candidate list is presented below,[16] along with the incumbent candidates before the election.[52] Non-minister MPs who are not standing for re-election are marked (†)[53] Government ministers are in bold, and party leaders are in italics.

The North American Caribbean Teachers Association (NACTA) based in New York (led by political analyst Vishnu Bisram), pollster Nigel Henry's Solution by Simulation and pollster Louis Bertrand's H.H.B (H.H.B) & Associates have commissioned opinion polling for the next general election sampling the electorates' opinions.

Satisfaction

Date[nb 1]	Firm	Interview Mode	Sample size
				Rowley (PNM)			Persad-Bissessar (UNC)
				Satisfied	Dissatisfied	Never heard of	Satisfied	Dissatisfied	Never heard of
July 2020	H.H.B. & Associates/Guardian Media	Face-to-face	600	57%	43%	0%	53%	44%	3%
31 May 2020	NACTA/Newsday	n/a	n/a	53%	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
March 2020	NACTA/Newsday	n/a	n/a	46%	n/a	n/a	55%	n/a	n/a
1–7 September 2019	SBS/Express	Telephone	n/a	50%	38%	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
8 March 2019	NACTA/Newsday	Face-to-face	540	40%	47%	n/a	42%	44%	n/a
24 September 2017	NACTA/Newsday	Face-to-face	390	40%	n/a	n/a	42%	n/a	n/a
1–3 September 2017	H.H.B. & Associates/Guardian Media	Telephone	301	32%	n/a	n/a	43%	38%	n/a
July 2017	NACTA/Newsday	Face-to-face	410	41%	n/a	n/a	43%	n/a	n/a
June 2017	NACTA/Newsday	Face-to-face	380	42%	n/a	n/a	43%	n/a	n/a
30 August – 5 September 2016	SBS/Express	Telephone	601	51%	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
^ Remainder were "undecided".

Preferred Prime Minister

Date[nb 1]	Firm	Interview Mode	Sample size			Lead
				Rowley (PNM)	Persad-Bissessar (UNC)
July 2020	H.H.B. & Associates	Face-to-face	600	39%	34%	5%
March 2020	NACTA	n/a	n/a	43%	45%	2%
^ Remainder were "undecided".

At 10:30 pm on Election Day, Prime Minister Keith Rowley declared his party the winner of the election with 22 seats. UNC leader Persad-Bissessar declared wins in 19 seats, taking the Moruga/Tableland seat from the PNM and the St. Augustine seat from the COP. She disagreed with Rowley's victory declaration and objected to the long delays at polling stations.[78]

In total, six seats won by the PNM were disputed: the UNC requested recounts for five constituencies in Trinidad (San Fernando West, St Joseph, Tunapuna, Toco-Sangre Grande and La Horquetta/Talparo),[79] while the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) requested a recount in Tobago East.[80] The EBC took one week to conduct the recounts, observing only minor changes from the preliminary vote counts: the largest change was an increase of 103 votes for the UNC in San Fernando West. The counts for the other districts differed by ten votes or fewer.[8] Rowley and the new PNM cabinet were then sworn in by President Paula-Mae Weekes on the following day, August 19. The ceremony was held at President's House.[10]

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	People's National Movement	322,250	49.08	–2.60	22	–1
	United National Congress	309,188	47.09	+7.48	19	+2
	Progressive Democratic Patriots	10,367	1.58	New	0	New
	Progressive Empowerment Party	5,933	0.90	New	0	New
	Independent Liberal Party	3,817	0.58	–0.12	0	0
	Movement for Social Justice	1,223	0.19	New	0	New
	Movement for National Development	1,039	0.16	New	0	New
	COP–DPTT–TTDF	524	0.08	–5.93	0	–1
	New National Vision	493	0.08	–0.04	0	0
	Trinidad Humanity Campaign	366	0.06	+0.04	0	0
	National Organisation of We the People	310	0.05	New	0	New
	National Coalition for Transformation	234	0.04	–0.01	0	0
	Progressive Party	211	0.03	New	0	New
	One Tobago Voice	80	0.01	New	0	New
	Unrepresented Peoples Party	73	0.01	New	0	New
	Unity of the People	40	0.01	New	0	New
	The National Party	23	0.00	New	0	New
	Independents	351	0.05	–0.27	0	0
Total		656,522	100.00	–	41	0
Valid votes		656,522	99.73
Invalid/blank votes		1,775	0.27
Total votes		658,297	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		1,134,135	58.04
Source: EBCTT, IPU

• 2020 United National Congress leadership election
• 2020 Tobago Council of the People's National Movement leadership election

• Elections And Boundaries Commission
• 2020 General Elections CNC3
• 2020 General Eleection Trinidad Guardian
• Trinidad and Tobago 2020 Election Centre Live Results Trinidad Express