The Bahamas prides itself on a record of free and fair elections, and central to electoral credibility is the register of voters.
In its policy brief on confidence in elections and the acceptance of the results, the Kofi Annan Foundation (founded by the late United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan), stated that whether an election and its outcomes enjoy credibility in the eyes of the country’s citizens, will depend on factors including “the extent to which the election is professional, impartial, accurate and transparent in all stages of its administration.”
The brief continued, “Most elections produce results that merit acceptance even in the face of imperfections of varying degrees. In some cases, the numerical results (the vote count) can contain errors or inaccuracies, irrespective of underlying motivations, which may not affect the outcome.”
The process of producing a register of voters in The Bahamas that, to the greatest extent possible, is free of errors and purged of deceased and ineligible voters, is a mammoth task that ought to be continuous between election cycles.
Free and fair elections in The Bahamas do occur with a register that has some imperfections, but the extent of irregularities and errors as well as the political context thereof, can impact whether voters view a general election outcome as credible and thus, one that conveys legitimacy on the declared winner.
Moreover, widespread irregularities or inaccuracies can lead to chaos on Election Day, heightening risks of voter disenfranchisement, and undermining electoral credibility.
Of the legitimacy conveyed upon a government through the process of free and fair elections, Annan asserted, “Legitimacy is the crucial currency of government in our democratic
age … victory without legitimacy is no victory at all.”
The register of voters – now permanent – is the register that was used for the 2017 general election, and was consistently discredited by Free National Movement (FNM) Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis in the run-up to the last election.
Minnis argued that Bahamians feared a “rigged election” due to errors on the register, and said, “The register is in such disarray that we have no faith in the government’s ability to produce a clean register which is a prerequisite to a free and fair election …Bahamians are now forced to simply wait and hope that this government does in fact mitigate the hundreds of discrepancies in the voter register to ensure a fair election.”
A month before the May 2017 election, Minnis said he was “doubtful” a clean register could be produced, and then FNM chairman Sidney Collie indicated that the register contained 72 pages of duplicate names, people born over two centuries earlier, and registered voters who were born in the election year.
Collie also claimed that people were issued Bahamian citizenship and a voter’s card within the same day.
Yet, this is the register the Minnis administration determined, through its recent amendment to the Parliamentary Elections Act, ought to be made permanent and continuous.
On the matter of the register of voters, Perspective spoke with Acting Parliamentary Commissioner Lavado Duncanson and Opposition Leader Philip Brave Davis on the process of cleaning up the register of voters, and on the latter’s concerns as his party engages in its process of scrutiny that is both standard and necessary for parties and candidates contesting a general election.
Duncanson stressed that the cleanup process is ongoing, while Davis highlighted a number of key concerns
Purging the register
Duncanson advised that between 2017 and April 12, 2021, a total of 5,747 deceased voters had been removed or purged from the register.
He noted, “That is an ongoing process as far as receiving the information from the Registrar General’s [Department] and also from the National Insurance Board.”
Additionally under the act, all undertakers, morticians and directors of funeral homes are required to provide a monthly list to the parliamentary commissioner of all individuals buried in the previous month.
That list is to specify the names, dates of birth and death, addresses, and occupations of those interred.
Perspective had sight of an internal report for the period ending March 29, 2021 compiled by the opposition’s team, that listed 454 deceased voters still on the register in constituencies throughout the country.
The report listed 10 deceased voters in Bains and Grants Town; 12 in Bamboo Town; 12 in Carmichael; three in Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador; 15 in Central Grand Bahama; 11 in Centreville; 22 in East Grand Bahama; 12 in Elizabeth; 13 in Englerston; 15 in Exumas and Ragged Island; nine in Fort Charlotte; nine in Fox Hill; 13 in Freetown; 10 in Garden Hills; eight in Golden Gates; 11 in Golden Isles; 12 in Killarney; 15 in Long Island; 14 in Marathon; 37 in Marco City; four in MICAL; 12 in Mount Moriah; nine in Nassau Village; 10 in North Abaco; 15 in North Andros and the Berry Islands; five in North Eleuthera; 21 in Pineridge; nine in Pinewood; nine in Sea Breeze; eight in South Andros and Mangrove Cay; eight in South Beach; four in South and Central Abaco; 14 in South and Central Eleuthera; nine in Southern Shores; 14 in St. Anne’s; nine in St. Barnabas; eight in Tall Pines; 15 in West End and Bimini; and nine in Yamacraw.
In addition to purging deceased voters, names of those whose voting rights have been suspended due to incarceration are also to be removed from the register.
When questioned on the number of incarcerated voters removed, Duncanson said he would provide the figure in time for our publication, but that did not occur.
He said of the process, “We would have continued with our liaison with the relevant agency most recently [the Bahamas Department of Corrections], and we would have issued them a gentle reminder. We will ensure that figure is accurate.”
The act states that the commissioner of corrections shall, at intervals of three months, transmit to the parliamentary commissioner a list of the names, addresses, and dates of birth of all adult convicted persons serving a term of imprisonment.
That list is to include the exact term of imprisonment, the date when the term began, and the date when the term of imprisonment is expected to end.
The commissioner of prisons is also to provide a list of persons under a sentence of death.
Davis said the Parliamentary Registration Department (PRD) is providing the opposition with regular, updated versions of the register, cautioning that the opposition does have concerns regarding the accuracy of the register.
He stated, “There appears to be an exercise that is producing discrepancies between the information contained in the register and on the voter’s card. This was only just discovered, and we are now engaged in an exercise to determine the extent of this issue.”
When asked to clarify this observation with the use of specific examples, Davis disclosed, “What we are finding as we canvass various constituencies is that there are situations where persons living in the same house are registered in different polling divisions and, in at least one instance, the date of birth on the register is different from the date of birth on the legal identification used to register.
“We are continuing to monitor the extent of these irregularities and we will make every effort to help citizens make the appropriate corrections before election day. And so, simply put, we want the government to assure Bahamian citizens that as it moves to compile the voter register, which it intends to make a permanent and continuous one, that every effort is made to ensure that the registration information for each voter is accurate and complete, [for the] protection and integrity of the election process.”
Davis told us the opposition’s representative previously made mention of some of its concerns to PRD, and that it is preparing a formal paper to submit to the department on its findings.
Dorian’s deceased and missing
The opposition team also generated a separate list of Hurricane Dorian victims on Grand Bahama – 12 in East Grand Bahama and one in Pineridge.
Police have indicated that of the 33 deaths reported in the aftermath of Dorian on the island, 11 people were confirmed by positive identification and subsequently buried by family members.
Those whose deaths have been confirmed are among names generated by the opposition.
Though the official death toll on Abaco has been put at 63, the total number of people who perished during those fateful hours when Dorian made landfall, is unknown.
In the weeks and months following, what became an incredible circus of missing persons figures provided by government for both islands ensued, which ultimately raises questions about the accuracy of Abaco’s register.
First, the prime minister reported to the United Nations General Assembly that 600 people were missing in Dorian’s aftermath, only to change the figure to 424 in Parliament five days later.
Then, Social Services Minister Frankie Campbell said just under 800 people were unaccounted for, after having initially indicated a missing-persons count of over 3,500.
Campbell later gave a figure of 1,208 missing persons, only to be immediately followed up by National Security Minister Marvin Dames, who said 282 were missing, followed by then Commissioner of Police Anthony Ferguson, who said the missing persons count stood at 54.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Solomon Cash subsequently gave a count of 33 missing persons.
Since the initial list of missing persons was not published by Campbell as he had pledged, and since the list of Dorian’s missing has not been made public by Dames as he repeatedly said would occur, there is no way for parties, candidates and the public to cross reference those lists with the register and on-the-ground information, for accuracy.
Post-Dorian population shifts
Population shifts are an important metric in determining how boundaries are to be drawn to achieve parity, and to guide PRD officials on where work in its scrutineering exercise ought to be prioritized.
A notable handicap exists in this election cycle, wherein the national decennial census which ought to have been conducted last year, has not yet been completed.
Dorian’s destruction in 2019 prompted an exodus of thousands of Bahamians from Abaco and Grand Bahama to other islands and abroad.
Many have not yet returned, but that population shift does not appear to be represented in the current registration numbers for both islands.
As of April 12, there were 6,317 voters registered in the ground-zero constituency of East Grand Bahama, up 142 voters from 2017.
There were 6,616 registered Central Grand Bahama, up 265 voters; 6,191 registered in Marco City, up 166 voters; 5,626 registered in West Grand Bahama and Bimini, up 38 voters; and 5,576 registered in Pineridge, up 186 voters.
There were 4,988 voters registered in North Abaco up to April 12, down just three voters from 2017, and 3,293 registered in Central and South Abaco, down 45 from 2017.
In November 2019, the Department of Social Services advised us that 8,812 Grand Bahamians – 6,469 adults and 2,343 children – were displaced based on its records.
This figure did not account for residents who left the island in the storm’s aftermath.
Days after the storm, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said 3,500 people from Abaco and Grand Bahama were evacuated to New Providence, with that figure not including those evacuated by private entities.
Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines said it evacuated 1,129 Grand Bahamians, and Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line said it evacuated more than 1,100 Bahamians via its Grand Celebration that serviced Freeport.
The act empowers the parliamentary commissioner to appoint scrutineers to, as far as practicable, make an enquiry at every house in any constituency or any part thereof, for the purpose of ascertaining the correctness of the register.
When questioned on the current registration numbers on Abaco and Grand Bahama, Duncanson advised that this scrutineering exercise will be taking place in short order.
Extensive editorializing is not necessary to enable the average Bahamian to recognize the magnitude of such a task, particularly since such an exercise not only needs to occur in Dorian’s disaster zone, but nationwide.
The act states that a person shall be eligible to register in a constituency if he or she is, and has been during the whole of the period of three months immediately preceding the day of application for registration, ordinarily resident in premises in that constituency.
A voter who shows up to vote in a constituency in which he or she is not ordinarily resident as per the act, can have their vote subject to challenge on Election Day.
Davis, meantime, expressed concern that there are “new voters to be registered and displaced voters to be transferred [on Grand and Abaco], not inspired to attend to being registered or transferred.”
Duncanson advised, “we are going to launch a scrutineering exercise where we will send individuals into the constituencies. We are in advanced preparation as far as with the scrutineering exercise [to] assist us with ensuring the accuracy of the register and confirming who is in those constituencies.”
He affirmed that the PRD is mandated to be prepared for an election on or before May 2022.
Working with a register Minnis previously suggested is the most problematic since the country’s 1987 general election, it remains to be seen if the department will be able to adequately purge and correct the voters register for what most suspect will be a snap election this year.
The post Check the register appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/check-the-register/
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