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Posted: Wednesday 10 December, 2014 at 11:27 AM

OAS Observation Mission says Dominica’s election fair but…

Lennox Linton (L) and Prime Minister-elect Roosevelt Skerrit
By: Stanford Conway, SKNVibes.com

    BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE OAS Electoral Observation Mission congratulated the citizens of Dominica for their orderly and respectful manner demonstrated at Monday’s (Dec. 8) polls, but was made aware of some serious concerns from various actors.

     

    The Mission, led by the OAS Secretary for Multidimensional Security Adam Blackwell, also congratulated Prime Minister-elect Roosevelt Skerrit and his Dominica Labour Party (DLP) in their victory at the general elections, and recognised the efforts undertook by the Electoral Commission and the Chief Elections Office in organising the electoral process and ensuring the elections were successfully executed.

    Preliminary results indicated that the DLP won 15 of the 21 seats, thus giving Skerrit a fourth term in Office as the island’s political Leader. He was first sworn into Office on January 8, 2004 after the untimely passing of Pierre Charles, which had made him the world’s youngest Prime Minister at age 31.

    The United Workers Party won six seats and its new leader, Lennox Linton, will now be sitting in Parliament after gaining 935 votes against his DLP opponent Dr. Martin Christmas’ 299.

    An OAS communiqué stated that the Mission had focused its observation activities on gathering information about the status of the recommendations made by its predecessor in 2009.

    It also stated that the Mission had submitted preliminary findings and recommendations aimed at improving future electoral processes in Dominica, which were gathered at meetings with electoral authorities, government officials, political parties and representatives of civil society organisations.

    The  observer group noted that the island’s electoral laws establish a continuous registration process and the right of persons who are registered is guaranteed until such time as their names are removed from the list in accordance with the provisions established under Section Seven of the Registration of Electors Act.

    “The Mission heard concerns expressed by different actors on the number of people registered in the voters list which exceeds the country’s population. While there are currently 72,484 registered voters, the country’s population is 71,293, according to the 2011 census,” the communiqué stated.

    It also stated that although the law provides for the list to be reviewed, some of the mechanisms used for that purpose were not effectively enforced, which raised doubts about the total number of citizens who were duly registered and eligible to vote. 
     
    In light of this, the Mission, once again, recommended that the voter registry be reviewed and updated according to the provisions established by the electoral laws, ensuring that the electors on the list are only those eligible to vote.

    Another area of concern that the Mission highlighted is that of imbalances in the number of electorates within the 21 constituencies.

    The Mission reported that since 1990 the number of constituencies remained unchanged and the larger ones have more than 7 000 registered voters while the smallest has 1 569. It therefore recommended that, according to the provisions under Section 57 of that island’s Constitution, the Electoral Boundaries Commission should review the number and boundaries of the constituencies to ensure that there would be equal representation of the electorate.

    Also, the Mission reported that the island’s electoral system is devoid of a voter identification system and there is a consensus across party lines and the Dominican society that it should be rectified.  

    “The Mission reiterates the recommendation of the 2009 OAS/EOM on the introduction of voter identification cards. The OAS/EOM further recommends that, following provisions of Section 19 of the Registration of Electors Act, electoral authorities issue identification cards before the next electoral process,” the communiqué stated.

    The OAS delegation further reported that it heard allegations of travel assistance provided to Dominicans living abroad to return to vote for particular parties. 

    The Mission, however, could not have verified the allegations so it encouraged the political actors who presented those claims to provide documentary evidence to the appropriate authorities for further investigation.

    The delegation also heard claims of potential use of state resources for electoral campaigns, leading to suggestions of an “uneven playing field” among political contenders. It noted that Dominica does not have campaign financing laws and reiterated the need for the island to consider legislation on political campaign financing.

    The OAS called on the political actors to consider the importance of the Mission’s recommendations before the next electoral cycle, which include training programmes and awareness-raising campaigns geared towards enhancing leadership roles of women in the political process.

    In concluding, the communiqué stated that “the OAS Mission wishes to thank the Government of Dominica for the invitation to observe this process and for their support and openness in facilitating the observation tasks of the delegation. In addition, the Mission thanks the governments of Argentina, South Korea and France for their financial contributions that made this mission possible.



     
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