Basseterre, St.Kitts (September 10th 2014):- Team UNITY Candidate Jonel Powell has told local media that in a recent ruling High Court Judge, Justice Ramdhani, has set a very significant precedent for all other judgments, as they relate to issues arising from the voters list.
The PAM Deputy Political Leader referred to what he claimed were persons who were being wrongly registered in constituencies where they do not neither reside nor ever resided.
Powell declared that Ramdhani’s judgment indicates the practice is illegal and needs to be stopped.
“The recent judgment by the honourable Justice Ramdhani in the Shericka Clarke Case... is the exact same thing… it speaks to all the instances in which persons are not properly registered to vote and therefore, the ruling serves as the basis for decisions demanding that persons only be allowed to register where they are qualified to do so, based on their residency,” Powell told local media.
He made it clear that Team UNITY will continue to scrutinize the voters list particularly in Constituency 4, Constituency 2, Constituency 8, Constituency 1 and all others in the run up to the elections.
Powell explained “We are making our objections to persons who we believe are inappropriately registered on the list and we are taking it to the level of the court and it is through our efforts that we now have got a very instructive judgment from the courts that can now be used as a precedent for all objection hearings and for dealing with the various voting issues we experience currently.”
According to the Deputy Political Leader of the People’s Action Movement PAM and the Team UNITY Constituency #2 candidate, a person is supposed to be registered to vote in the constituency in which they live, at the point of registration.
However, this is not always the case, hence the objections.
He explained that based on the recent court ruling by Justice Ramdhani, anyone who no longer resides in a constituency where they were once registered, and now lives in another constituency for which they are qualified to register, that person is required to seek registration in their new constituency and not remain a voter in their old or former place of residence.
If they refuse the Electoral Office has a duty to have the person transferred to the constituency where they currently reside.
Miyvue.com reported that Powell warned that there are still too many persons who are wrongly registered in constituency where they do not presently reside.
“Once you move to another constituency you are to transfer your vote to that constituency in which you now live, and you ought not to remain registered to vote where you used to live”.
To this end, he noted that the current Supervisor of Elections has been negligent in his management of the voters list. Powell explained that the current problems with inappropriate registrations in Constituency Number 4 existed during the tenure of Wingrove George, when he worked as Registration Officer in that constituency.
“The number of outstanding objections I think are in the hundreds; over the course of the last three years, before his appointment to the position of Supervisor of Elections. Wingrove ‘Parrot’ George was the Registration Officer for Constituency 4 and he was the respondent to this very appeal that we got this judgment on, and has failed to operate properly in both posts.”
An issue was also raised in several other key constituencies around the island, added Powell.
“Just from this year alone, we have 120-130 outstanding objections that are before the courts, waiting to be decided upon... Constituency 1 and 5 do have some matters pending as well.”
Powell also cautioned those persons who are willingly and deliberately registering where they should not, that
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