BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – SINCE its closure shortly after the February 16, 2015 General Elections, the door to the Electoral Office on Central Street, Basseterre will be reopened to the public from Monday (June 1).
This disclosure was made by the Federation’s Attorney-General (AG), the Hon. Vincent Byron Jr., shortly after the Prime Minister’s Monthly Press Conference ended on Wednesday afternoon (May 27).
“Cabinet currently determining that we will be opening the Electoral Office on Monday, June 1 and that will be open for business. We are also at this point in time working to put in place constitutional offices involved...by that time of the Electoral Commission as well as the Supervisor of Elections installed.”
The AG stated that they would be going through a reorientation process of constitutional positions.
Explaining what he meant by that statement, AG Byron said: “Basically what it is, is that the constitutional positions which have to be appointed by His Excellency the Governor-General in consultation with the Prime Minister, the Premier of Nevis as well as the Leader of the Opposition. We expect that His Excellency would be doing so over the next few days as it was, bring the electoral system up and to be running again.
Shortly after being sworn-in as the Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. Timothy Harris said that because of “dramatic and extraordinary events” that took place, he had commissioned his Attorney-General to “look into irregularities of the entire 2015 electoral system”.
At the Prime Minister’s second press conference since taking office, the AG reminded of the alleged irregularities at the Electoral Office and declared that the police were called in to investigate.
“In relation to the Electoral Office, you would recall that when we took office there had been serious infractions at the Electoral Office. An investigation has been ongoing and we are now reaching a point where it’s beginning to wind down where we can make a preliminary report shortly. As it is, we have had professional assistance from London. Proven Legal Technologies, which is a company involving good governance, has been here; it involves not just technical people but people involved as Queen Counsels and a reputable firm of solicitors who are doing an investigation. They have been looking at the databases that were involved in the use of the Voters’ Lists, Voters’ Register…
“CID was called in to investigate a breach of the Electoral Office. We’ll then determine, once the report is finished, what course of action will be taken in terms of an illegal prosecution. But as it is, we will be making a preliminary report as to the investigations in the not too distant future. It would be made to the public.”
On Wednesday, last, AG Byron indicated that the investigation has not been completed.
“As far as the investigation as to the infractions of the Electoral Office, a number of breaches have been identified and, at this point, the investigation is still ongoing and one would not want to report at this point. I will be doing so shortly!”
The Electoral Offices on both St. Kitts and Nevis were closed since February 17, 2015 after Supervisor of Elections Wingrove George had made an unprecedented move to suspend the announcement of the election results.
In early April, Nevis’ Electoral Office was opened but St. Kitts’ office had remained closed.
