Low voter turnout and why residents lost hope
The Office of the Supervisor of Elections has confirmed that while some 16,130 residents were registered to vote in the April 24 election, only 9,275 exercised this right. Voter turnout was 57.5 percent. It’s lower than the last election held in 2019.
While many have been stating the likely reasons for the low voter turnout, political commentator Dickson Igwe said, among other things, the issues highlighted in the damning Commission of Inquiry (COI) and the arrest of former Premier Andrew Fahie were two of the major factors which bewildered residents and pushed them away from the polls.
“That lack of trust may have been there well before the start of the very public inquiry. The inquiry simply exacerbated that trust deficiency. It revealed the underbelly of the beast. Subsequent events including the arrest of the previous leader of the country on drug conspiracy charges did not help,” Igwe said in a recent article titled, Low Voter Morale in the Virgin Islands.
Lack of confidence in political system
While public commentator Benito Wheatley thinks one can never be sure of the exact reasons for the lower voter turnout, he does agree that a lack of confidence in the political system played a role in interest shown by the electorate.
“Those persons who did not vote lost confidence in the political system. They feel the political system does not work for them and see no point in voting,” Wheatley told BVI News. He also added that the behaviour of candidates on the campaign trail may have scarred some residents.
“Persons were turned off by the mudslinging that occurred during the election campaign [and] persons found they could not support the platform of any of the political parties and were not satisfied with the choice of candidates,” Wheatley stated.
While many stayed away, those who voted clearly found hope in the new candidates they elected to the House of Assembly: Dr Karl Dawson, Luce Hodge-Smith, Stacy ‘Buddha’ Mather, and Lorna Smith, who won as a National Democratic Party (NDP) candidate but hours later formed an alliance with the VIP to become Deputy Premier.
Although many see these new lawmakers as the hope of the BVI, some feel like the last-minute alliance of Lorna Smith and the VIP has served a fresh blow to the psyche of the people and will likely lead to further disenfranchisement within the community.
Igwe agrees with this assertion, stating that “anger remains as the outcry at a politician crossing the floor and enabling the Virgin Islands Party to form the government showed.”
As the debates and fallouts from the election continue, Igwe urged politicians to take the low voter turnout seriously by engaging people at the “grassroots” over the next four years.
He said any political entity that improves morale will see favourable results at the polls.
“The party and politician that causes low morale to improve will increase turnout in their favour. That will be a trump card in four years. That means engaging with voters at grassroots level daily over four years, and not just at election season,” Igwe stated.
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I don’t like the unholy alliance between these two – I would not trust either of them!
I don’t particularly agree with Mr Igwe, in fact, I think exactly the opposite, engagement is the last thing voters are looking for, what they want is concrete results, not talk. The politician/s that get the BVI infrastructure rebuilt, healthcare and education fixed will be the ones that increase voter turnout, low voter turnout was more than likely caused by, the COI revelations, too much talk by politicians, and, little or no physical action on the ground with the territories needs.
Democracy is dead! Too much shenanigans taking place. I look at the jokey government and shake my head. It will be a sad four years but the opposition gives some ray of hope at least. Hope is not yet dead.
Where can I go to review the Register of Interests – I want to see what these newly elected politicians own!
I think that they have to file within a day of being elected.
I voted and after seeing what happened I know these politicians don’t care. It is all about the power. Clearly the voice of the people is only used to gain political power. Not voting. May the cards fall where they may. Will trust in God. He been on my side.
Bet you voted for Fahie.
BVI people just love to TALK TALK TALK, that’s the bottom line. When they are doing ‘good’, then the country is ‘good’. When they have ‘problems’, they want to ensure that EVERYBODY has ‘problems’. That is it in an nutshell. If you pay attention to the party supporters that are always on social media, look at how quickly they switch allegiances, why? Because when they were with NDP, they didn’t get that job/contract so they went with VIP, they didn’t get what they wanted there so they are now with PVIM. All the while they are pretending as if they care about the Territory. People did not vote because they do not care about what’s important, they just want to appear that way. They will be the same people complaining every single day about the issues that we face. Time to move on….
What this says is that people did not hate the VIP like everyone was saying and it also says the alternatives offered by the other parties were mostly dull and no better than what we currently had.
Life is challenging worldwide and not just in BVI. Just listen to the news in USA, UK, Caribbeam & other countries. Most of the issues are the same all over the world which include cost of living, better education system, better health care systems, human rights, among others. The issue is not only concerns with political leaders but most parents have stop leading in their homes coupled with the greedy do not let the needy get help. There is also more demand on public services than ever before & the fact is the public services worlwide cannot keep up with the demand nor do any government have enough resources to address all the urgent needs in an effective & consistent manner. The bottom line is we all have to do better in order to get better. It is as simple as that.
The Supervisor of Elections and her Team did a marvelous job and must be commended But, Voters registration needs to be top priority from today. Many of the Voters Lists had names of persons who had passed for years and many of the lists had people who no longer live here but I guess their names must still show. This might be constitutional But I think if Virgin islanders/Belongers wish to participate in the Voting process they should be in the Territory at least six Months prior to Elections except for studies, sickness or some legit business that they have to be away. I don’t care if they still contribute to the territory or not. Why should anyone show up just on Election Day and make a mess for the people who have to live through it? I know my comment will be met with much criticism but just my thought. Also, I think the Premier should be voted for on a separate ballot by the people. In my view Hon. Mather should have been Premier. I do wish for him much success in his reign and encourage him to always stay on the high road when others take the low. Politics is not a Dirty Game. It is the activities of some Politicians that makes it seem Dirty. Hon. Mather, Be steadfast and know your purpose. Don’t let the activities of Politics change who you are. Who you are, is God’s Gift to You. But, Who You become is your Gift to God. May God continue to bless and guide you in your endeavours..
This is so sad and the lack of essential public services like reliable water compounds it. May the Lord have mercy on us for the next four years
We still have hope, I believe sheri, Carl, Kye & Lorna even thou she is a turncoat has some knowledge of what they are doing and what it takes to get it done, Vincent should not have a Ministry his head is not screwed on straight. Which them the best for the length of their administration.
I voted but it’s clear UK is coming to take over
A lot of names need to be removed from the electoral role which can also lead to fraud (dead people voting!). The constitution requires voters to be resident in the BVI but is not enforced.
A lot of names need to be removed from the electoral role which can also lead to fraud (dead people voting!). The constitution requires voters to be resident in the BVI but is not enforced. Advanced voting should be a week not 4 days in advance, if you were away for valid reasons on Monday theres a good chance you were also absent on Thursday (which happened to me due to an appointment scheduled 6 months ago)
We also have to consider that only 25% (?) of the population can vote !
Before elections Cindy was on her show telling viewers that not voting is ok since it would mean they are happy with who are in Government SMH
LORNA HAD BETTER BE CAUTIOUS OF THAT GIRL BEFORE SHE TURNS ON HER TOO LIKE THE BITTERNESS AND AXE GRINDING SHE HAS FOR OTHERS!!
WHEN BUILDING SOMETHING THAT REQUIRES STRONG FOUNDATIONS STAY CLEAR OF OPPORTUNISTS.
Everyone speaks of electing 13 people as if they can save the BVI from the almpst 3000 Civil Servants that are the real problem. It is fun to watch everyone ignore the elephant in the room while spraying the fly on the wall!
We are human and we dll make mistakes , when you not spewing out racism and colonialism , you are being evil and vindictive against people you don’t like , your mind got to be a toilet that need to be flush are you an *Angel* ? ? / we now have a stro g opposition ,so everyone’s action will be monitored ( SO CAN WE ALL GET TOGETHER FOR THE BEST INTEREST OF THE COUNTRY AND ITS PEOPLE IN PEACE AND INTEGRITY •¿• ( @ LOL ) ~ that was really humorous ?
Regretably, it’s not likely to be any different in 2027 either. It’ll be the same set of jokers.
The territory needs to adopt a deliberate programme to increase the franchise. Ideally to more like 50k voters. That will be unpopular and painful, but will create a more healthy democracy and increase prosperity.
It’s clear that those with power in the BVI will always vote in their favour.
Why would anyone really vote when all the politicians are nothing more than plutocrats running for the sake of career, notoriety and power.
The bigger problem is that Andrew is just a symptom not the disease.
The same family names always on the ballot. No change in the future seen. This creates apathy.
If immigration changes, this should create new voters and new candidates.
I know this will make you crazy, but put a white guy or a Guiana guy on the ballot and EVERYONE will vote. Just like Obama and Trump in the USA – now there are record voters turnout.
Nobody going to get too excited about these guys in office now.