Numbers Rise Steadily in Voter Re-registration Process
~~Adz:Left~~Basseterre, St. Kitts (January 10, 2008): Just over six hundred persons have already reconfirmed their registration as voters in St. Kitts.
This is according to Electoral Office Manager Mr. Oliver Knight who said that the process was going well. This is demonstrated by the daily lines at the new Electoral Office on Central Street as nationals of St. Kitts and Nevis take part in the voter registration confirmation procedures.
The process includes joining a queue at the confirmation station where photo identification has to be presented, receiving the current registration details and filling in blank spaces. The new information includes height, social security number, phone number, eye colour, first name of mother, first name of father and any disabilities. The completed registration information is then printed and verified, if accurate. The registrant will then be asked to sign on a signature pad and have his/her photograph taken.
Mr. Knight said that persons who are presently registered are required to reconfirm their registration under Statutory Rules and Orders No. 47 of 2007. The re-registration period is December 27, 2007 to September 30, 2008. The date set by the Minister responsible for elections as given authority by Section 107 of the Electoral Law.
The same section of the law specifically 107(2) states “Upon the publication of an order under subsection (1), the provisions of Section 43E shall be suspended until the publication of a reconstructed register of voters in accordance with section 108. As such, the usual publication of the voters list by January 31 will not take place. An outlined procedure will be in place for persons wishing to see the list before the completion of the re-registration process.
The new detailed information obtained from each voter will not only have a paper trail as the Electoral Office will have printed copies of it but the data will be entered into a computer system which will be backed up daily at an off site venue.
