Proposed bill: Friends can vote on incapacitated person’s behalf
Select voters who are incapacitated and unable to cast their ballot at the upcoming general elections will be able to empower a friend to do so on their behalf.
This will be made possible through the proposed Elections (Amendment) Act, 2023 that was introduced to the House of Assembly last week.
Clause 6 of that bill seeks to amend section 47 of the principal Act (the existing legislation) by providing for several categories of persons to vote on Advance Polling Day, including the friend of a person who is incapacitated for the purposes of section 45 (4), medical practitioners, nurses, emergency medical technicians, prison officers, and candidates.
Another notable change to the existing Elections Act is outlined in Clause 7 of the proposed amendment Act. Clause 7 would amend section 53 (1) of the principal Act by restricting campaigning upon a public road or in a public place within 100 yards of a building in which a polling station is situated on Advance Polling Day.
There are four other substantive changes outlined in the bill. They are as follows:
Clause 2 would amend section 2(2) of the principal Act by extending the meaning of ‘published’, allowing a notice, a list or other instrument required to be published under the Act to be published electronically or by use of a QR Code.
Clause 3 would amend section 18(1) of the principal Act by providing for the preliminary list to be published electronically. Clause 4 would amend section 23 of the principal Act by providing for the revised preliminary list to be published electronically.
Clause 5 would amend section 40 of the principal Act by providing for the name, address, and occupation of a voter to be announced prior to voting.
Lawmakers are scheduled to debate the bill today and pass it as this would be their last opportunity to do so before the next general elections which are constitutionally due by May.
Before then, however, the HOA must be dissolved. This must happen no later than Sunday, March 12.
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Voting being accessible is a very important issue, especially as the older folks who make up a large part of the voting population continue to age, but something like this needs to be air tight and well put together because in the BVI (and anywhere else really) its not a matter of if it will be abused but when.
The dead vote, so incapacitated should have the same rights!!
I can understand if they allowed to send it with someone in a sealed envelope with their signature or something but to allow somebody else to go vote for them… idk smells like more shadyness
YEP , you guys have put it wonderfully ? , because these wannabe aristocracts have figured out how manipulate their people with their fake smile and sweet talk , like the ( CITY SLICKER CLINE ) aka (csc)
A very stupid idea, who checks if the person filling in the ballot is marking for who the incapacitated person wanted DUMB.
BVI is a tiny country with lots of people. Many different government employees visit the homes of older folks who don’t/can’t get out much.
The Election Office only needs to have a trustworthy competent staff on each inhabited island that are able to visit all the incapacitated at home folks on polling day. Anything else is hearsay!!
What an asinine proposal. This is recipe for fraud. So essentially one person can vote more than once given that they can also vote for an “incapacitated” person’s behalf? How many incapacitated person can one person vote for?
What is to stop that friend from voting who he or she wants instead of what the incapacitated person want? This is so Flawed with a capital F.
The BVI is not a real Place!
Ayo remember the proxy-voting that we had in the 90’s ???? DEAD PEOPLE WERE VOTING….LOL
This has been going on for years, so why are we pretending that its new. It’s only being legitimised now. Play a type of past elections and you will see what was happening.
What we need is proxy voting and mechanisms that allow the hundreds of BVI students in uk and USA to vote in those countries.
Also train the h*g of a Supervisor of Elections who don’t know how to talk to people.
Proxy voting with a new name.
The fraud continues.
‘BVI calling the UK!, time to takeover the government!’
Why does the HOA keep doing this stupidness? Do you want the UK to come back and take control?
This is legalization of election fraud. AND it is so obvious when it is done right before a called election.
PLEASE STOP. I don’t want the UK running my country