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| Electoral Reform Secretariat Press Officer, Ms. Valencia Grant |
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, SEPTEMBER 10H 2006 - A majority of nationals of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis who attended the first public consultation on Electoral Reform in Tortola, British Virgin Islands on Friday night, is of the view that nationals residing overseas should be allowed to vote in the land of their birth and rejected any imposition of a residency requirement.
"Thus although attendees of the first Electoral Reform Consultative Committee (ERCC) public consultation in Tortola made substantive points on redistricting; the voters" list; the voter registration process, and fixing elections dates and term limits, what they said about overseas Nationals"
right to vote was among the most intriguing, even if the conclusion was somewhat predictable. The majority view of the people at the first consultation on Tortola was that overseas citizens should be allowed to participate in elections," said the National Electoral Reform Secretariat's Press Officer, Ms. Valencia Grant said on the Secretariat's website.
In a report on the consultation at Maria's By the Sea on Friday night, Ms.
Grant quoted George Henry originally from Saddler's Village in St. Kitts as
stating: My belief really is that anybody who is a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis should be able to go home and vote at any time without having to be residing in the territory for any [specified] time."
"And I say that because I've been living here for a long time; could not vote, still cannot vote. If I can't vote here and I can't vote home then who am I? I believe anybody should be able to vote where they were born at any given time. It's a fundamental right for you to decide how, if not you, how your family, your friends and who you really care about, how they live. It determines the direction in which you want your country to go, and if you can't make that decision where you were born and you can't make it where you are living then you might as well be dead," said Henry.
Cayon-born Alexis Charles was also of the view that persons ought to be able to exercise that franchise if they so desire.
"But what we need to get away from is where the various political parties would send tickets en masse to Tortola, and any person who'll just join the plane ride and go up to St. Kitts and Nevis and take part in election without even having an appreciation for what is taking place in the Federation. To me what ought to happen is if you are so interested you ought to put yourself in a position where you understand what is happening in St.
Kitts, and you of your own [volition] go and make an informed decision and vote for the party of your choice or the candidate of your choice," said Charles.
During an exchange with Charles, ERCC member Elvin Bailey asked Charles to elaborate on his suggestion that the overseas vote should be extended to those persons who display sufficient interest in the country.
"Ownership of property in the country, the sending of remittances to relatives and frequent visits," suggested Charles, but Henry responded: "I appreciate what my friend here is saying but I'm going to just strengthen my point. If I'm outside as a citizen of St. Kitts-Nevis and I can afford to buy a ticket to go home and vote, I think that's good enough."
Nevisian Theodore Skeete, originally from Newcastle said he was not particularly impressed with some of the conditions delineated to justify that if you are a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis living away for 40 years you should meet those requirements to be able to vote.
"I am not impressed," adding: "The privilege of adult suffrage accorded to the individual citizen of a country should not be negated by subjective views I must declare my remittances, the knowledge of my sending remittances to my family, to make me qualified to vote in my country? Rubbish!"
"As a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis, that citizen should not be required to declare his responsibility - or not - of sending home remittances to his relatives. It is not in my view a necessary variable. There is an element of reason when it comes to property, but that does not mean that if I am not in a position to establish property ownership in my country I should be deprived of voting rights. Am I to understand that if some party is in power and they send me a ticket to come home to vote, am I compelled to vote for them?" asked Skeete, a former BVI High School teacher, BVI Cricket Association President, commentator and businessman.
In summarising the main points of the Electoral Reform Consultative Committee (ERCC) meeting, ERCC member Clement "Bouncin" Williams said the 12 people who gave recommendations last night made strong presentations.
After the consultations in Anguilla; St. Maarten; and Tortola and Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), this weekend, the ERCC will hold meetings in St. Croix and St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) between September 15 and 17.
The committee will be split in two again when a delegation will travel to the United Kingdom to hold consultations in Birmingham, Leeds, London, and Manchester around that time.
Next month Electoral Reform Consultative Committee (ERCC) members will travel to Toronto, Canada; and New York, Washington, DC, and Miami in the United States for public meetings there.
