Elections Office prepared but still no election date established
Alex Holder - BVI News Staff Reporter - Friday, July 22nd, 2011 at 8:46 AM
Supervisor of Elections, Juliet Penn
The Elections Office is ready for the 2011 General Elections in the BVI but it remains a guessing game as to when exactly this will be held.
Supervisor of Elections, Juliet Penn, told BVI News Online on Thursday that there is still no date set for the elections, as this cannot be done until the House of Assembly is dissolved.
But the elections cannot be held beyond the month of November of this year, she said.
Penn noted that her office is indeed ready and “prepared” as far as it can be at this point, but the real work will not begin until after the House dissolves.
During the exclusive interview with this publication, Penn said there is not much that has taken place to date, except for the individual political candidates launch through their respective political groups or independence.
The actual registration of these candidates will take place on nomination day, which of course cannot be known until the dissolution of the House.
“We cant publicly say who are the candidates until nomination day but they are free to go out and launch and do what they have to do but we cant say anything publically until nomination day and that is until after the council is dissolved and a date has not been set for that,” Penn said.
Regarding when exactly this council would be dissolved, she said, “I don’t have a clue.” This year’s elections was supposed to have seen the introduction of voter identification cards in the BVI but Penn says this vision was not realized due to unforeseen circumstances.
She said the process of getting things streamlined had begun but eventually stalled.
The BVI remains one of the few countries in the Caribbean without a Voter ID Card system.“We were all just about ready to go but we ran into a snag and we would not be able to give out those cards before elections. The circumstances were beyond our control,” she said.
Penn added that there would be no difference to the approach of the voting system and candidates can only vote in the district for which they are registered.
“Basically elections would be the same. The only difference we would have had this year would have been the cards.” Individuals who would have already cast their vote will not be identifiable by the customary INK as used across the world, since this system too was not implemented as proposed.
In fact, BVI News Online understands that the proposal was completely ignored when presented by the Elections Office some time ago.
“If your name is not on the list you cannot vote. Your name is on the list at a particular polling station. If your name is not on that list, you cannot vote in that particular area,” Penn said. With that, she notes that when the preliminary list of voters is released, at a date to be announced, individuals will have an opportunity to examine that list and make inquiries for possible changes.
“We encourage people to check the list.”“Everything hinges on the dissolution of the House of Assembly. That’s when election really gets into high gear. Right now we can only prepare. But the real preparation like preparing ballots and doing all those other things cannot be done until after the House has been dissolved,” Penn said.
After each vote is cast, a notation would be placed near each voter’s name in order that they are not allowed to vote again.The size of this year’s voters’ list remains unclear but according to Penn, “it should be bigger than last year.”
She said the list is being constantly updated as the Elections Office maintains its contact monthly ith the Registrar’s office as well as the office that registers births and deaths.
“We are taking off as well as adding. Every time there is a registered voter that dies that names comes off. We get the information from the Registry,” said Penn.
The Elections Office head also noted that funding for her office and the effective execution of its functions are adequately managed.
She said that although the office doesn’t have direct dealings with the finances, money is made available as required.
There is an actual budget but Penn declined to divulge the exact figure.
Copyright 2013 BVI News, Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed.
9 Comments
Disclaimer: BVI News and its affiliated companies are not responsible for the content of comments posted or for anything arising out of use of the comments below or other interaction among the users. We reserve the right to screen, refuse to post, remove or edit user-generated content at any time and for any or no reason in our absolute and sole discretion without prior notice, although we have no duty to do so or to monitor any public forum. All comments posted on BVINews.com reflect the views and opinions of the commentators and not that of the management and staff. Click here for our full comment/user policy/ agreement.
Only peter crumble will stoop so low or is there another?
What I would really like to understand is, how NDP can draft the constitution to state, you cannot be a first generation and run for BVI House of Assembly and in the same constitution say, if you qualified prior to the constitution you eligible. This means Mark and Archie who run prior qualifies. Myron never ran therefore (as a first generation) does not qualify. If he is eligible the constitution is a JOKE. Here we go again selling the BVI. BVI wake up.
Stop being a complete idiot!! That part of the constitution will only affect people who didn’t meet requirements of the old constitution. The new constitution was passed in 2007. Prior to 2007 Myron was eligible to contest elections. Being eligible has NOTHING to do with whether you ran before or not. Do you know what eligibility means? Jesus man, get a damn dictionary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It’s called a grandfathering provision!!! Anybody who didn’t meet the requirements prior the 2007 constitution has to abide by this constitution. All it means is that if you could contest elections in 2006, you can contest them now, SIMPLE! It’s sad that people have to break things down so simple for the so-called smart people.
The problem I have with election is they’re saying your name will be crossed off the list when you vote. Without ID requirement how the hell will you know who is who? LMAO! WHAT A JOKE!!!!
As was said, if he qualifies the constitution is a JOKE.
my understanding is that this lady’s nephew is running…i’ll keep my eyes on her
I am not defending the candidates but Ms, Penn….Does it really matter, whether or not her nephew is running? the BVI is a small place, more than likely if you are a true home grown BVIslander you will be related to MANY MANY MANY other BVIslandrs whether the relation is near or far. Marlon is her nephew, yes, but what about Dancia?… cousins? Come on people… Just stop the nonsense. Ms. Penn is doing her job and she does it well. She is not counting votes, so what does it really matter at the end of the day?
TELL THEM THERE THE ARE OUT OF PLACE END OF STORY
All good and dandy but KEEP A EYE ON THIS WHOLE PROCESS…I just saying
so what if her nephew is running? You think that will lessen her credibility? ayo people always trying to start trouble where this is none, try go sit down from looking thing to talk. I can assure you that she is not the type of person to stoop to low standards to please anyone, you either win or you didnt!
Post a Comment