Free and fair elections with one man having one vote in the right place
SOE address accusations
By Monique Washington
The office of the Supervisor of Elections (SOE) has addressed the accusations made by the Nevis Reformation Party and as made a commitment to have a “free and fair elections with one person having one vote in the right place.”
Hensley Daniel candidate of the NRP, noted to the Observer last week irregularities within the electoral office in Nevis may cause them to take legal action.
He outlined to the Observer situations where people were unable to register to vote. He claimed voters have been going to the office and are being told that they cannot register because the machines are down.
Daniel said citizens names have been removed from the voters list, especially those living abroad and they were not served with any notice as requested by the last court ruling. And the Supervisor of Elections Elvin Bailey has not giving voters a meeting to voice their concerns.
In a statement released from the Electoral Office it noted after the passage of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, the offices experienced computer malfunction and the network servers failed to properly reboot.
“ Our technicians have been working assiduously to fix the problem. However, the data base is secure and has not been compromised. Indeed, we are working to develop a more robust disaster plan to protect the database. Meanwhile, enrollment and verification continued. It is too early for activation,” according to the statement.
The Bailey said that some persons were not able to registered on a particular day because of technical issues and apologized to the person for the in convinced. “On Friday 6 October, Nevis lost inter connectivity with headquarters and a total shutdown of our computers for the day. During that period, five persons were unfortunately turned away.
“When I became aware, I immediately advised them to take all the information of the applicants so that a supplementary list could be developed and assessed for eventual inclusion in the Voter Register. I hereby publicly apologise to those five persons who were turned away.”
In continuing the statement notes “The system was sufficiently repaired by 9 October for registrations to take place.”
Bailey explained the registration process to become a voter comes in multi-stage which involves enrollment, publication, verification, activation and a second publication.
The statement said that both the NRP and the CCM requested a meeting with the him
“ In informing the Chairman of the Electoral Commission, he advised to have one meeting. He, like me, thought it was inadvisable, in the interest of transparency, to meet with one side in the absence or knowledge of the other; and so I combined both meetings and advised both parties. That meeting was set for October 9 at 5 pm at the NCCU Conference Room”.
Bailey notes that the NRP advised that it did not want to meet under these circumstances and withdrew from the meeting.
“That is their inalienable right. As a result of their withdrawal, I cancelled the meeting with the CCM. I also invited both sides to submit their concerns in writing so that the Commission could address them. On 20th October, my office received a letter from the NRP dated 5th October, 2017. Most of the contents of that letter were made public by the authors even before there was an opportunity for redress’.
Bailey acknowledges that there will be imperfections in our system, “and we are working towards solutions to those issues that will from time to time arise”.
“Meanwhile, the Electoral Office, the Supervisor of Elections and the Electoral Commission remain committed to free and fair elections with one man having one vote in the right place. No one with a legitimate entitlement to vote, with or without a National Identification Card will be denied their rights whenever the elections for the Nevis Island Assembly is called, “it concludes.