Richards calls for announcement of Elections date 

…Hamilton expresses disappointment over lack of Electoral Reform
 
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - AS the voting population waits with bated breath for the announcement of a date for General Elections, the Leader of the People’s Action Movement (PAM), Shawn Richards, is upping the pressure on the Prime Minister to call a date for the polls.
 
Since Prime Minister Timothy Harris dissolved the Parliament and fired six of his Cabinet members, no official word has been forthcoming on a date for the elections, which has to be held sometime within the next 80 days. 
 
The delay has now allowed for more persons to get registered, with long lines being seen on a daily basis at the Electoral Ofice in Basseterre. But questions and concerns are being raised, with media reports alleging irregularities during the registration process. 
 
Richards, during an interview with reporters at the  launch of the PAM candidate in Constituency Eght, said the party is currently working to back-check the various electoral lists from January to determine who were taken off and who were recently added, to see if there are any irregularities.
 
Concerns are being expressed by Leader of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party, Dr. Terrance Drew that a number of irregularities were seen at the Basseterre office, and Richards acknowledged some of the challenges they have seen and they are now outlining their plans. 
 
“We are looking at the monthly registrants. We are looking at the persons who would have requested transfers whether into a constituency or out of a constituency, to determine if the new registrations, if those are legitimate. To determine if those persons who requested transfers if they are legitimate and to ensure also that persons who were legitimately on the list in January and did not request a transfer, and whose names should still be on the January list, that those names are still included,” Richards disclosed.
 
Weighing in on the issue, newly announced candidate for the PAM, Chesley Hamilton believes the elections would not be held on even ground based on the reports that there were irregularities at the Electoral Office in Basseterre.
 
He described the topic as a “vexing” issue, pointing out that it was one of the reasons he had major issues with the Government at the time of which his party was within for the last several years.
 
“If you want to know why I fall out with the Unity Government, it was over this. The boundary case came out of my brain. It is I  who came up with the idea of how to deal with this case, and therefore when we went all the way to the Privy Council and back on the boundaries case so that these guys can be in office, To see nothing move ahead on the agenda of Electoral Reform, of Boundaries Reform, of the Integrity in Public Life, I could not in good conscience say I am going to shut my mouth because my government in office, no! 
 
“There was a gentleman who came to us from Jamaica and spoke to us and he says that the best system is one that the opposition can live with.”
 
Hamilton believes the time has come where the Government should move to streamline the registration and voting process, reminding that there were recommendations on the use of a thumb print in order to vote, but that was shot down.