Anguillians turned out in large numbers for the Early 3or Advanced Polls on Friday, June 26, with hardly standing room at three of the four locations.
The polling was for persons seventy years and over, and for essential workers. The three crowded and adjoining locations were the House of Assembly to accommodate voters from Island Harbour, Valley North, Valley South and Road South; the High Court for voters from Sandy Hill; and the Magistrate’s Court for voters from Road North. The fourth voting location was the Internal Audit Department, just outside the Central Electoral Office, for voters from West End. There was no mass crowding there.
A mass crowd jammed the entrances to the House of Assembly, the High Court, and the Magistrate’s Court for a long time, causing much agitation. Among the gathering were voters in their late seventies, early and late eighties as well as in their nineties – a number of them with ill-health and mobility problems but benefiting from the assistance of family members.
When the situation was brought under control, the crowding quickly dispersed. Shortly before 4.00 pm, the closing time for the polls, only a handful of persons remained to cast their ballots. They did so with much ease.