~~Adz:Right~~London, England (October 29, 2006): "The thing is, they haven't got any systems in place," said a woman to another who was sitting beside her during Friday night's Electoral Reform Consultative Committee (ERCC) meeting in Bedford, England.

"No," the second woman concurred.

The first woman remarked, "That's the problem. They've got this all backwards."

Flaws in the current electoral system - like the fact that there are dead people on the electoral list and there is no link with the Registry of Births, Deaths, and Marriages - did not go over well with the overseas nationals in attendance at the All Saints Community Centre in Queen's Park.

Some of them were exasperated and emphatic, forwarding to the ERCC suggestions that they seemed to feel bordered on the obvious.


~~Adz:Left~~The second woman had earlier addressed the Electoral Reform Consultative Committee (ERCC). "I've got a few points to make because something does not make sense. Do you keep a register of the people who apply for a passport? From what I gather - because I got one just a couple months ago - you do that every 10 years, you have to apply for a passport... And then, don't you have another register where you keep for people who are deceased? So when somebody dies you collate those two registers together," she recommended.

She continued, "They are supposed to work in tandem. So, good, I've got an electoral register. I've got a list of every citizen who has applied for a passport within that 10-year period. I've got another list of all the deceased people. Shouldn't somebody or shouldn't you set up some sort of a committee to sit down before you have your election and look at all those three registers?"

The woman added, "And, of course, if this person is dead that person's name should not be on any of those lists. Then you eliminate those names [from the electoral list] accordingly."

Councillor Randolph Charles, an overseas national from St. Kitts-Nevis and the Bedford Borough Council's Deputy Speaker, followed up by asking about the process of removing unauthorized people from the list.


~~Adz:Right~~ERCC member Clement "Bouncin" Williams explained that, "The list is published and there is a process of what is called objection. If somebody is known to be dead and somebody can challenge that registration - that Mr. ABC has passed - and he can certify it, the onus is on the challenger to certify that the person on the register is dead. As long as the challenger could prove that the person is dead then by some consultation the name would be removed from the list."

His explanation was met with a din of voices as attendees reacted, talking all at once.

"Somebody can challenge my name being on the list," said the woman who spoke just before Councillor Charles did. She laughed. Shortly after, she added, "I think the government should have the power to remove the name of somebody who dies because I know it holds the death certificate; it holds a copy. If somebody comes up and wants to challenge why the name isn't there then they should provide proof that the person isn't dead." Others agreed that this should indeed be the case.

They also suggested that the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis ought to develop a strategy to promote women's involvement in the political system. One woman proposed for this to include a program whose aim is to connect women with mentors. She told the committee that - as one of the few female managers in the male-dominated transportation industry - she is encouraged at work.


~~Adz:Left~~"We've got one woman director in our company," the woman said, "and they are actively as a company trying to persuade their women to try and step up, but by doing that they're making available to us whatever training courses or whatever we need to do to enable us to step up the ladder. They have other people there within the industry - men as well, not just women - that will take you under their wing and help guide you up the ladder, and that's what you need to do."

There were other recommendations: St. Kitts and Nevis should assign every citizen an identification number for electoral purposes, and it should legislate campaign finance reform to ensure that funds are accounted for, sources are declared, a spending limit is implemented for all political parties to adhere to during an election campaign, and incentives - including plane tickets for people to come home and vote - are banned.

Other recommendations were that the country should discontinue continuous registration and instead register people once per year for the duration of one month; it should place its electoral list in a computer database; it should disseminate a registration form to eligible voters annually by post, verifying their name, date of birth, and address; at the time of the election the country should issue a polling card to the voters who completed and submitted the registration form, and it should institute an education program to educate people about the new registration process and their voting rights.

The attendees also received an education on the current system. Mr. Williams said that under the system of continuous registration, which St. Kitts and Nevis implemented 22 years ago, anyone who is 18 years old or older can register to vote whenever he or she chooses to. "At the time the election is called, the list is finalized based on the last set of electors in the month preceding the dissolving of the House of Parliament. So every month a list with additional names that have been added is published."


~~Adz:Right~~He continued, "In February of every year, a full slate of voters is published. In February, objections and changes to the general list are accepted. During the month of February, if you want to object to somebody on the list as being dead you have to fill out a form of objection, submit it to the Supervisor of Elections, with the relevant proof. If you convince the Supervisor of Elections, that name is removed."

Vincent Chapman asked, "Williams, can I pick up on the point that you made about people coming into the electoral office and registering after their 18th birthday? Why should they have to register? I mean, they've got their date of birth. Shouldn't they be sent an electoral form saying that they should be eligible to vote? They shouldn't really have to register."

"This could be a recommendation, which we take," said ERCC member Clifford Thomas.

Mr. Chapman continued, "That process has to be changed because you shouldn't depend on people to come in and register on their 18th birthday. Their date of birth has been registered so therefore their date of birth should be on the Registry."

"Please, please, please," said Mr. Thomas, "understand that the Registrar of Deaths and Births is a separate entity from the electoral office, OK? We have not yet made that link between the two. The recommendation is that we make that link."

Mr. Chapman concluded that, "Once someone has died, they'd have to register their death as well."

"Yes," replied Mr. Thomas. "Thank you, sir."


~~Adz:Left~~
Earlier in the meeting - when ERCC member Elvin Bailey informed the group about a situation in Nevis where two people on the list had the same name; one was dead whereas the other was alive - the second woman said to no one in particular, "Were they born on the same date?" Another woman chimed in, "Do they have the same mother?"

The second woman said emphatically over the ensuing din, "This is what you call administration."

"I," she continued, grasping for words. "This is ri...," she said, failing to continue her thought.

"Birth certificates, death certificates," a man said.

The woman collected her thoughts. "There must be birth certificates and death certificates."




Contact: Valencia Grant (869-762-6177)