NASSAU, Bahamas, CMC -The Parliamentary Registration Department (PRD) has described as “unfounded” allegations by the main opposition Free National Movement (FNM) that thousands of voters could be prevented from casting their ballots in the May 12 general election.
“I heard one or two people say that their name did not appear on the register. But tell me, over 209,000 persons on the register, this is the largest there has ever been, so how many people could be left off?” PRD Commissioner Harrison Thompson said in response to the FNM allegation.
FNM leader, Michael Pintard told a news conference that the omission of several voters’ cards from the register could run into the thousands and that based on details relayed during a meeting with party representatives and officials from the PRD earlier this week, plans are in motion by Thompson to consult with the Attorney General’s Office on having those omitted voters included in the May 12th election using white ballots as opposed to coloured ones. Watch video
Pintard said that under the Parliamentary Elections Act, any Bahamian with a voter’s card but whose name does not appear on the register or is not listed in the correct constituency, or polling division, can still cast a vote, also known as a protest vote, and must do so on a coloured ballot.
Pintard is also cautioning the PRD Commissioner to refrain from last-minute changes to permit a fair and transparent election.
“What is important is that we have a register where there are quite possibly thousands of Bahamians that have been left off the register,” Pintard told reporters.
“And I want that to sink in for the Bahamian people, that you’ve done everything possible to register, to follow the law, you did so in a timely fashion, the government has a body that is appointed whose job it is to make sure that all the persons who’ve registered, when the day comes, they can vote.
“Now we are finding out, five days before the election, despite their interest and right to vote, there are thousands of persons who are being disenfranchised because of the leadership we have in place,” he added.
But Thompson maintains the vote will be free and fair, saying “there’s some discussions with the Attorney General that I am not able to speak to…but we are having some discussions with the Attorney General’s office…but it’s not to deal with 15,000 or 16,000 people or whatever the number they have,” he added.
Meanwhile, a High Court judge has dismissed an application for an injunction to halt Tuesday’s general election after the Bahamas Constitutional Party’s (BCP) leader, S Ali McIntosh, raised concerns about the integrity of the voters’ register.
McIntosh later told reporters that she would wait to see Justice Leif Farquharson’s reasons for denying the application after he releases his written ruling.
She told reporters that her case is a strong one and that she sought the injunction out of concern for the integrity of the voters’ register.
McIntosh said she and her party will read the reasons for the court’s decision before deciding their next steps. She said that following the elections, she intends to petition the incoming government on the matter, although her party has not nominated any candidates this election cycle.
“We are going to continue to call for a commission of inquiry, a royal commission of inquiry. So this will go further. We already have appointments to speak with the national observers from both CARICOM (Caribbean Community) and the OAS (Organization of American States).
“We are very much involved in this election, protesting and not nominating because we believe the defectiveness of the register and the gross corruption of it is why we took the steps we took,” she added.
Download video – Free National Movement (FNM) Leader, Michael Pintard
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