APM candidates 
AUF candidates
The Central Electoral Office continued its arrangements for the upcoming district and island-wide voting late last week, and again this week with the training of the various politicians contesting the elections.
The first training session was on Friday 8th May for some members of the Anguilla United Front which formed the Government of Anguilla for the past five years. The other AUF members were at the time attending a House of Assembly meeting.
The training continued for members of the opposing Anguilla Progressive Movement on Monday, May 11, at the National Emergency Operations Centre.
There, Supervisor of Elections, Mr. Rodney Rey, told them: “We have been mandated by law to hold public education sessions and have already conducted some in the constituencies. We will be doing some more in the middle of May and we expect the candidates and their supporters to attend these sessions as well.
“As you are aware, this election is like a watershed in the electoral process in Anguilla. It is the first time we will be using voter ID cards and electronic tabulation machines. It is known and, as you know, some people don’t like new things. But it is a very simple machine, easy to understand, but you have to get familiar with it; and we believe that if we get the candidates to be familiar with it, they in turn can also educate their supporters at meetings.”
The training session, like the others, was conducted by Mrs. Daphne Jacobs-Richardson, the Returning Officer for District 6. The retired Music Teacher at the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School is one of the longest-serving electoral officers in Anguilla. Recently, since the Central Electoral Office embarked on the electronic voting system, she has emerged as the most knowledgeable person with respect to the operation and functioning of both the electronic voting and tabulation machines.
The public education programme is being assisted by IT Department technicians who play a critical role in the electoral process.
