~~Adz:Right~~London, England (October 24, 2006): The people in the packed meeting room of the Neasden Kingfisher Youth Club wanted answers.

"At the time of election, would something be set up at the High Commission for us to vote?," and "Was there any truth to some of the issues that were raised on page 12 [of the Report of the Commonwealth Assessment Mission on Electoral Reform in St. Kitts and Nevis]?," and so on.

In response to the question that referred to page 12 of the Report, ERCC member Clement "Bouncin"| Williams said, "There is nothing that has been listed as being established as an offense in any court of law, up to now almost two full years to a day since the last general elections."

Mr. Williams added that, "I think it's the interest of the present government to go beyond a shadow of a doubt and get everything clear and transparent."

Hence, the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis launched the National Electoral Reform Exercise on Wednesday, August 23, 2006, with the stated intention of engaging all stakeholders - social groups, political parties, and the general public - in the electoral reform process, and encouraging them to make recommendations before an objective, fact-finding committee named the Electoral Reform Consultative Committee (ERCC).


~~Adz:Left~~The Government laid out its intentions for this exercise in the St. Kitts and Nevis Electoral Reform White Paper, which it made public in early August. In it, there is a list of proposed reforms that includes "a proper ID system for registration."

Certainly, such an I.D. system would promote transparency in the electoral process. So, naturally, as the meeting progressed, one of the attendees -Wendell Gumbs - wanted to know, "How far along has the government come in respect of that?"

ERCC member Elvin Bailey answered, "There's the intention to create a card, but you have to tell us what the government should put on that card, if a card is generally supported. There's been a lot of debate, a lot of discussion in the Federation about what ought to go on the card so no decision has been made yet on what goes on the card."

Mr. Bailey continued, "We've heard here tonight that a date of birth should be on it. I also heard somebody mention the address."

Then he asked, "Photo?," in response to a suggestion forwarded by several people.

Peter "Righteous" Lawrence, who was sitting at the back of the room, shouted, "Why do you want an I.D. card for? You're English now? You got it on your passport already; what more do you want than that?"

~~Adz:Right~~People pointed out that not everyone has a passport.

Errol Harris addressed the ERCC at this point. "I think it would be absolutely necessary for everyone to have identification, even if it's without a picture, but it must have date of birth, where you were born so at least somebody can identify you."

Alfonso Thomas commented that, "I do think we are running away with ourselves here. A lady over there spoke about birth certificates, or what have you. We haven't done that [introduced I.D. cards] in St. Kitts-Nevis because I think they're talking about finance.

He added that, "A lot of things are not done in St. Kitts because they cannot afford it...It wouldn't be a bad idea to see what other people do before we start putting ourselves into this expense."

Celestine Matthew joined in. "You're saying that we have our right [to vote] so you can recommend that people abroad use a passport because you only can vote if you are there [in St. Kitts and Nevis]."

"Do you want to specify just for people abroad?," Mr. Williams asked.

"Yes," she said, "because you haven't even worked out your own backyard yet so I am saying to help the situation..."

Mr. Williams interjected, "A passport should be a good enough identification for the people overseas. Thank you, Mrs. Matthew."

~~Adz:Left~~Ernest Harris elaborated on her suggestion. "As Celeste said, you can identify people who've got passports - because they've got photographs as well - to use that as the main I.D., and other people could register by photograph and...date of birth, and what not, that is not expensive; that's my main point. Design something that is not expensive."

"You'd be surprised to know," said Mr. Williams, "that with modern technology the voter I.D. card...can be very affordable." 

What a few people were surprised to know - after Alfonso Thomas asked the ERCC - was that there aren't any rules governing election campaign spending.

"So nobody knows what happens," said Mr. Alfonso Thomas.

Mr. Williams responded, "There's no requirement by law."

"Well," Alfonso Thomas rejoined, "I would like to see some cap on that, but I don't know what happens now so I could hardly go down the road to say..."

"But Mr. Thomas," interjected Mr. Williams, "we are asking you what you would like to see."

"I don't want to have a shot in the dark," he retorted. "I don't want to have a shot in the dark because in order to go forward you want to look backwards to see what"s been happening."

Mr. Williams replied, "Well, I'm telling you there's absolutely nothing."

"This is true," said Alfonso Thomas. "This is true..."

Mr. Bailey interjected. "Mr. Thomas, let me try a different angle. You asked a question about whether government contributes, the answer you got is "no." Do you think they should contribute?"

"No, no."

"OK," said Mr. Bailey. "We are on our way."

Alfonso Thomas recommended that each contribution amounting to more than $10,000 should be declared publicly, as well as the source of that donation; money doled out to political parties should be "above board"; politicians should release an income and expenditure statement at the end of the campaign, and a limit should be placed on the amount that sources can contribute. Another attendee, Henry Mills, also suggested that political parties should only spend a certain amount per election.

There were many other recommendations, including that the voters' list should be "scrapped" after each election and a new one compiled; political parties should ensure that a copy of their Manifesto gets to every overseas national whom they know; a link should be established between the Registry of Births, Deaths, and Marriages and the electoral office, a voter I.D. should have the holder's unique number on it, and people should vote only where they reside.

Other recommendations were that political parties should have equal access to state media; party leaders should participate in public debates; legislation should enact - for the media and politicians - an official code of conduct, prohibiting "nasty, abusive comments" and "sexist rubbish."

At one point, Henry Mills laughed. Mr. Mills said, "I'm just laughing my head off here, you know. You find people - so nice and decent - talking about code of conduct. Listen to me, man, in the Caribbean, generally, and St. Kitts, particularly, the politics has always been polarized, highly intensified, highly personalized...and it's not going to stop."

"That's a statement of opinion, Mr. Mills," said Mr. Williams. "Do you have a recommendation?"

"What can I recommend, that you all behave yourselves, eh?," asked Mr. Mills with levity.

Jacinth Henry-Martin presented a well-informed opinion - as a woman who was once federally elected - about the behaviour on the political platform. She said that - in response to a negative comment directed at a male candidate - "Society will probably say "That's the dan; that's a man." The very same thing said about a woman degrades her; breaks her down, and casts her in a different light [in the eyes of society]."

Ms. Henry-Martin, the Deputy High Commissioner to the St. Kitts and Nevis High Commission in London, England, continued, "While it is accepted that male politicians can respond in a certain way, once a woman responds in that same way she is seen as though she's lost her feminine side under pressure."

With regard to the representation of women in politics, one man said that a political party should place a female candidate in a "safe seat where she has a very good chance of winning." Other people felt that there should be "more involvement of women in all levels of society." 

One man called for more involvement of opposition supporters in all levels of society, regardless of which political party is in opposition or power. "If you vote for Party A and Party B wins the election, all the Party B people get work. Why isn't anybody bringing that up?"

This was one of the final questions in a long line of queries last night. Mr. Williams noted the mans recommendations that everybody should get work based on their ability and political victimization should not be practiced.

The people asked questions, not only because they genuinely didnt know about the intricacies of the St. Kitts and Nevis electoral system. They also have a vested interest in the electoral process, and as the consultations draw to an end some people appear to be uneasy about what will happen next.

Early on in the meeting, Electoral Reform Consultative Committee (ERCC) member Clifford Thomas addressed one mans question. Just to put your mind at rest...this committee will make a report to another committee, which is an advisory committee consisting of a wide cross-section of persons representing parties, non-governmental organizations, Christian Council, Evangelical Association, and so on.

Mr. Thomas added, That committee will concretize the recommendations that we pass on from the people, and forward it to a Parliamentary committee, which will provide the suggestions for legislation that will make the electoral reform a reality.