One of the matters which the Anguilla Government is thinking about while contending with the threat of the COVID-19, is the issue of the planned district and island-wide elections this year.
It is a national matter and one of the concerns is the coronavirus now threatening Anguilla and the impact it would have on persons crowding the polling stations once the elections are called. Apart from local voters, a number of Anguillian voters living abroad would also be among the electorate at the polls. The elections are constitutionally due by June, but with the health precautions being taken, it is understandable for commentators to begin thinking that the polling may have to be postponed. This, however, is both a matter for the Governments of Anguilla and the UK.
Mr. Rodney Rey
Meanwhile, the Central Electoral Office concluded its first hearing of objections to names on the voter’s list on Friday, March 20. The Supervisor of Elections, Mr. Rodney Rey, who presided over hearings, and his Deputy, Mrs. Maria Hughes, have been quite busy with the objections.
According to Mrs. Hughes, there were 133 objections to the registration quarter (November, January, February 14). The main objections, during a period of two weeks, made by candidates or their supporters, were that some persons on the voters’ list were not residing in the districts during the qualifying period and were not known.
Following the hearings, however, 71 of the objections were withdrawn. The largest number of objections were in Valley South, District 4, where there were 37 and West End, District 7, 38. In Valley South, some 20 objections were withdrawn; 12 dismissed; and 2 granted. There were one or two instances where, due to an error by the Central Electoral Office, a few persons were registered in another district and this was corrected. In another instance, the name of a deceased person was on the list. At West End, some 25 objections were withdrawn and about 10 granted while the others were over-ruled or dismissed.
With the two-week objections over, a new preliminary list of voters is to be posted at the end of this month after which objections will again be taken. In the meantime, newly registered persons, who met the registration deadline, have until March 31 to collect their voter identification cards.
In the meantime, it is almost three weeks now since the Central Electoral Office received some of the 15 tabulating machines. “We are awaiting four more machines so that each polling station can have its own machine,” Mrs. Hughes said. “For instance, we have two polling stations in Road North so each of them will have a tabulating machine. There is a need for 20 machines.”
The Deputy Supervisor of Elections explained that the machines were quite expensive –costing over 5,000 US dollars each along with the software, the contract, and training. The equipment, sourced in the United States, was funded by the Anguilla and UK Governments. The training of electoral office personnel and for the electorate in the districts, has been suspended due to the coronavirus and the regulations against large gatherings.
Unable to comment on rumours that the elections may have to be postponed, Mrs. Hughes commented in measured terms: “We are open until further notice and serving the public.”
