CHARLESTOWN, Nevis – THE Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) continues to express concerns over the handling of problems and the ongoing registration process by officials at the Electoral Office in Nevis.
Yesterday (Oct. 23), the NRP staged a protest exercise outside the Electoral Office for what its members believe to be neglect by that entity to register voters and to remedy issues the party had highlighted.
The NNRP had sought to engage the Supervisor of Elections, Elvin Bailey, in a private meeting, but a party executive claimed that they were forced to abandon it because they learned that an official at the Electoral Office had intended to invite representatives from the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) to sit in.
NRP’s Robelto Hector told SKNVibes News that his party has seen “voters being put through a rigorous process of frustration”.
“We are looking at it from the broadest sense because, to me, it seems like it is deliberate. I had gone as late as last week to take someone to register and we were told that the system is down. I have had numerous complaints from individuals that even when they get a chance to register that they cannot get their ID. It’s taking them something like two and a half months after registration to get their ID.”
Expressing his frustration, Hector disclosed that a number of persons relayed that for an entire week, as late as last week, they were told that the system is down, while those who were taken off the list during the claims and objection period are seeking to “reregister and cannot do so”.
His concern is for the process, whereby, if persons are not registered by the cut-off time for elections, they would not be able to vote.
“…and if there is a situation upon which you are not registered by the requisite date or the requisite time, you would not be able to vote in an upcoming election,” Hector said.
Against that backdrop, he pointed out that they had looked at it from a legal standpoint which shows that “it is a breach of a constitutional right”.
Hector lamented that the NRP has not received any statement from the Supervisor of Elections on the current situation, noting that “the problem has been going on and on”.
Looking at the problem broadly, the NRP’s candidate for St. Paul’s intimated that “it seems that it is only we that it is affecting, NRP supporters who are seeking to get onto the list”.
The local elections on Nevis are due by early 2018 and many believe that Premier Vance Amory would likely announce the date as early as next month.
Should that be a reality, Hector believes that many people would not be able to vote.
He claimed that a large number of people had returned to the Federation for funeral and other activities and were unable to register.
“We have quite a number of them who have tried to register only to be told that when they get at the office that we are not renewing, the system is down – there is nothing I can do for you.”
Further, Hector disclosed that the party’s leader, Joseph Parry, had written a letter to the Supervisor of Elections requesting a meeting with him, but Bailey responded that “he would not meet if the CCM side is not there”.
“I think that is absolute rubbish, foolishness,” Hector exclaimed. “They have not issued a statement to the public indicating that they are having challenges. Nothing has been done; it is like it is a secret.”
He noted that the master list, which was published in January, took eight months to be updated, leaving many in the dark because their names were removed from the official list.
He also stated that many of those people were not able to “have an adequate hearing”.
This afternoon, SKNVibes sought to have a comment on the issues from the Supervisor of Elections but was told that he was at the airport preparing to leave the Federation on official business.
