At the break of dawn yesterday, dozens of registered advanced poll voters were already lined up outside St. George’s High School on Grand Bahama, eager to cast their ballots ahead of the September 16 general election.
For the first time, there were multiple polling stations on the island for an advanced poll, with four scattered throughout.
At St. George’s, the elderly were wheeled in, some used their walking sticks and others were seated in chairs as they waited to vote. It was the first time those 65 years and older were eligible to vote in the early poll.
“We are extremely happy to be out here this morning to exercise our God-given right,” one elderly woman said as she walked out of the polling station after voting.
“We have the right to vote and we are so happy and we will not allow no devil and no government to take away our rights.”
Despite long lines and one or two run-ins with police officers seeking to maintain order, the voting process went smoothly at all four polling stations on the island.
There are five seats on Grand Bahama.
Many are keenly watching the race for Pineridge, where incumbent Frederick McAlpine, who won the seat as a Free National Movement (FNM) candidate in 2017, and is now an independent candidate, is facing off against the Progressive Liberal Party’s (PLP) Ginger Moxey and the FNM’s Welbourne Bootle.
“I’m enthusiastic about what I see,” said McAlpine, standing outside the polling station pointing to voters dressed in purple shirts with his name on them.
“I’m excited and I’m comfortable that we will, at the end of the day, be successful by the grace of God.”
However, Moxey said looks can be deceiving.
“I don’t want to sound overly confident, but I know what the people are saying on the ground,” she said.
“There’s a lot of talk. Nassau says a lot of stuff, but when you go on the ground, you hear from the people. You hear that they are hurting and have been hurting for a long time. They know that I’m a person who makes things happen and gets things done and I’m all about action.”
Bootle spent a lot of his time in his vehicle, but emerged occasionally to greet supporters.
“Listen, I’m feeling good and I’m comfortable with where we are now,” he said.
“I’ve seen my supporters and they’re giving me thumbs up. So, I know everything is in order.”
At Jack Hayward Junior High, the polling station for Marco City, a tense discussion erupted among three of the candidates.
Incumbent Michael Pintard sought to have team members set up a tent inside the school’s gates to provide some sort of shielding from the sun for voters, particularly the elderly.
“This is not just for FNM’s,” he told The Nassau Guardian. “This is for all voters. We also brought umbrellas to give each of them because frankly it is very hot.”
He pointed to the line and continued, “We should improve the system by providing a tunnel because they are outside and I think that would be extremely important. But we have to improve the conditions under which our people live and in this case, the conditions under which they select the leadership of the country.”
Moments later, Pintard was seen in a huddle with the PLP’s candidate, Curt Hollingsworth, and another who expressed that they were not comfortable with the tent being inside the gate as they said all tents set up by parties should be placed outside.
Despite that, the voting process at that station was smooth as well.
Over in Eight Mile Rock, West Grand Bahama, the elderly and others sat under trees as they sought shelter from the sun outside Eight Mile Rock High School.
In that constituency, the candidates are the FNM’s Pakesia Parker-Edgecome, the PLP’s Obie Wilchcombe, the Democratic National Alliance’s Mario Mott, and Stefan Hall from the Coalition of Independents.
In total, 3,521 Grand Bahamians were on the advanced poll register.
The post For most part, smooth voting process on Grand Bahama appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/for-most-part-smooth-voting-process-on-grand-bahama/
No comments:
Post a Comment