BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – A voter of Constituency Number Eight has expressed outrage after her supposed secret ballot was allegedly viewed by a Polling Officer.
Speaking with SKNVibes on condition of anonymity, the young woman explained that she arrived at her polling division just minutes after the polls opened and, after waiting for some 20 minutes, she went inside to cast her vote.
She explained that what transpired after she returned to the Polling Officer caused her great concern.
“I went to the Polling Officer and he issued me a ballot. I went into the polling both and I placed my X. When I went back to the Polling Officer, I gave my ballot to him for him to place it in the ballot box, as I saw others before me did. I saw him open and look at it.
“That is when I questioned him as to why he looked at my ballot. His response was that he was looking for an initial. I really don’t know what initial he was looking for, but as far as I am concerned he should have never looked at my ballot. This was supposed to be a secret ballot and, well, it wasn’t a secret anymore."
The perturbed woman told this media house that the Polling Officer’s (name provided) response to her questions threw her for a loop.
“The polling officer asked me if I wanted a new ballot to re-cast my vote, knowing that I was concerned about him seeing it. That is when my anger intensified, but I hid the emotion. I told him it would make no sense to re-cast my vote because my vote would not change; therefore, he would still be aware of the candidate for whom I voted. I told him I would deal with the situation and instructed him to place the ballot, which he had already looked at, into the ballot box.”
The woman informed that she lodged a complaint with an OAS Observer concerning the incident.
“I saw an OAS Observer there and I reported the incident to him because I view it as an irregularity. I really don’t know if anyone else had this experience, but I feel affronted and I feel like my democratic right was seriously violated. It might seem simple to people but it is a serious issue for me.”
The voter explained that she treats this as one of life’s lessons, one which will not soon be forgotten.
“I spoke to other voters who told me it was different at their polling stations, because they placed their ballots in the ballot box themselves. I guess this is a lesson for me to insist that I place my ballot in the box myself rather than have a potential Peeping Tom doing it for me comes the next election. It is a lesson well learnt!”
