The Anguilla House of Assembly went into recess on Tuesday, October 8, thereby allowing its members to participate in a mock election exercise to test the efficiency and reliability of a new technical system for the upcoming elections.
The following day, Wednesday, from 8 am to 1 pm, members of the public were given the same opportunity. A considerable number of voters turned up for the exercise, overseen by technical persons and observers from the British Virgin Islands where tabulation machines were used in the recent elections – and from St. Maarten.
The above exercise became necessary as Anguilla is departing from its old system of election registration, balloting and vote-counting, and both exercises were simply to test the equipment to be used in the actual election process.
In preparation for the 2020 general district election and the island-wide or at large voting, the Central Electoral Office, through the Governor’s Office, has been equipped with two DS-200 tabulation machines, a set of new and light-weight ballot boxes and other related equipment. However, there has been a need to test the counting machinery to ensure that the process is not just understood, but trustworthy, effective and efficient for such a publicly sensitive nature of work.
The main reason for the election machinery is to reduce the long lines at the polling stations; have the election results tabulated and publically known quicker; and make the system more efficient. Gone, for example, will be the painstaking searches through piles of printed voters’ lists and the dipping of fingers in ink, replaced by Voter Registration Cards; and the physical counting of ballots, replaced by tabulation machines and automatic printouts.
At the mock election exercise at the House of Assembly, Anguilla’s Supervisor of Elections, Ms. Aurjul Wilson, who was an observer at the British Virgin Islands district and at large elections, explained the technical process. She was assisted by a visiting BVI team comprising Ms. Juliette Penn, Supervisor of Elections; Ms. Caroline Stout Igwe, Permanent Secretary, Education; Mr. Willie Lesley, Director of Elections System Software; and Mr. Hewlette Forde, IT Technician. Ms. Wilson was also assisted by Mrs. Daphne Jacobs-Richardson, one of Anguilla’s Election Returning Officers.
“We are going to conduct a very mini election here,” she stated. “We will give ballots to each of the House of Assembly members to fill out and place in the ballot box, and Mr. Lesley is going to run them through the DS-200 machine. The report will say how many persons voted for one person and what you are going to see is a tabulation of the whole process.” She explained that the machine would read the votes on the combined district and at large ballots simultaneously.
Ms. Penn, the BVI Supervisor of Elections for 16 years, and her team, spoke about the efficiency of the tabulation machines which were placed at all nineteen polling stations in her territory. She told the House of Assembly: “I can vouch for the efficiency and accuracy of the election results you will receive. Unlike Anguilla, we were able to purchase machines for all nineteen polling stations so we actually had all of the ballots scanned in at the same time the persons voted. Persons who made a mistake were told right away by the machines and they were able to rectify the situation. But because you are not having that, I think Ms. Wilson is going a different way – but whatever way you go, I can assure you that the machines are accurate. They give you good results and the time frame in which you would have to wait for the results would be minimum.”
Mr Willie Lesley commented: “This machine, made by our company, has been used successfully and we are the largest selection company in the United States. They have used it for approximately seven or eight years. The British Virgin Islands used it for the first time this year very successfully. When you bring in technology like this, you are going to be challenged. There will be people who will be suspicious of what you are doing with this technology and whether you can trust it. Ms Penn, the Supervisor of Elections, went through all of that. I really felt bad for her because she was just being beaten up. But I am happy to say that after the elections were held successfully people came back with nothing but praise for the fact that the system worked so well.”
In reporting on the BVI’s elections, Ms. Igwe, who served as Deputy Supervisor of Elections there for sometime, said: “We started counting at 8.30 pm and everybody, for the first time, was able to go home before midnight and they knew what the results were. We have nine districts, four at large seats and nineteen polling stations. But, definitely, even though [in Anguilla] it will not be fully what we did, I believe that you will have quicker results because the system works. I can vouch that the system works and the support of the Elections System Software is there for you. I commend Anguilla on taking this initiative in improving the election system in Anguilla.”
Ms. Wilson, the Anguilla Supervisor of Elections, said Anguilla was only able to purchase two tabulation machines and that a training programme for their operation had been undertaken by the Central Electoral Office.
Premier Victor Banks welcomed the team from BVI. “They are here at our invitation and I thank them for graciously accepting to come. Ms. Wilson has been engaged with them, and she is working with them to facilitate a smooth understanding of the process as part of the public consultations. It has been very enlightening in the discussions I have had with the team. They indicated to me that they had the opportunity of a couple of weeks, to a month, to prepare themselves for the new system of balloting and counting (for lack of a better terminology) that had taken place in the Virgin Islands at the last election.
“We have had the privilege of meeting with the provider of the equipment. The Government of Anguilla has agreed that we should utilise this equipment for the upcoming elections, and we are now going through the process of ensuring that it is efficient as it was promised to be – and as it has performed in the past.”
Leader of the Opposition, Ms. Palmavon Webster, joined in welcoming the BVI team to Anguilla. “I am glad that you are here. It is helping us tremendously, and I hope that we can call on you when we seek to distinguish our electoral system proper to make sure that we can draw on your proof to have the right outcome for our voters as well.”
