Investigation of Electoral Office continues
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – ATTORNEY-GENERAL and Minister of Justice the Hon. Vincent Byron Jr. announced that proposals for Electoral Reform would soon be taken to Parliament, but declared that the investigation into alleged irregularities at the Electoral Office is not yet completed.
This was in responseg to questions posed by a media representative during the Prime Minister's monthly press conference last Wednesday (Apr. 20) concerning updates on the investigation at the Electoral Office and plans for Electoral Reform as well as its current status.
“An investigation had begun to look at the Electoral Office when we had discovered that there was a break-in at that facility. The police were invited to carry out an investigation and that has still to be concluded, to be conclusive. Nonetheless, what has happened, having had the operations at the office suspended, we began to reopen in June 1 last year and subsequent since then officers been working on a regular basis.”
He stated that since the reopening of the office there have been monthly publications of new registrants and that the new registration as well as the objection processes are being conducted on a regular basis.
“In January of this year, January 31, as per the National Assembly Elections Act that governs this process, the annual register of voters was published and there have been subsequent objections to that list, where voters on the register can object to those who they say are not properly registered; and hundreds of people have been objected to. The process of objection hearings has been ongoing and the process had been working properly.”
Byron, who is also the Minister with Responsibility for Elections, spoke to the new appointees at the Electoral Office while declaring that the electoral process has been restored.
“You recall that last year the Governor-General appointed a new Supervisor of Elections, continues to function, and appointed a number of Registration Officers to assist with the process. So the electoral process at the moment, as we believe, has been restored under the current Act.
In addressing the status of Electoral Reform, the Justice Minister stated that the Government of National Unity had encountered several problems prior to taking office in February last year.
“...There are a number of problems that have preceded us and so there will be coming into Parliament within a short time proposal for there to be q reform process. The framework would have to be discussed and brought forward for that the society under the Constitution would have a proper electoral process.”
He also highlighted some of the questions which must be addressed when taking the proposals for Electoral Reform to the House of National Assembly.
Byron said one of the problems is “the current list properly constituted,” adding that “there are questions that are being put to us that there needs to be a proper mediation process than we go house to house to register people where they live. That is one question that has to be put into the new regime. There are questions as to whether what to do with the question of residence and what must be put to the people as to whether what happens to the overseas voter and whether it is one has to be resident to be able to be an active participant in the voting process. These are questions that must be contained within any new electoral process”.
Minister Byron also briefly touched on the subject of boundary changes.
“I would add that the other critical and important issue has to do with the question of our boundaries; how the constituents’ boundaries are arranged. And this is also a major issue to be dealt with in such electoral process. In this regard, we would recall that this is currently before the court, a challenge as to the question of a boundary report that was part of a very traumatic period in our history on January 16, 2015 that ended at the court and challenged and reached all the way at the Privy Council.”
He said that matter is still to be heard in the court and would be heard so as to determine the way forward.
Byron concluded that the Electoral Reform process is a constitutional issue and it would involve not only the Government but also members of the public. He however pointed out that there must be a legislative framework before citizens could make their contribution.
