Voters List is Dirty

Even after the Electoral Commission held a news conference to dismiss claims of a flawed voters list, Chairman of the United Progressive Party (UPP) Leon Chaku Symister maintains that there are certain irregularities on the list that must be addressed.
“We are not satisfied that the electoral list is as clean as it ought to be,” he says.

According to Symister, a glaring error was made on the part of the electoral commission, when non-nationals were allowed to register without the commission being certain that these individuals met the requirement of three years of unbroken residency.

“The problem,” he says, “is that there are some persons who were not eligible to register, who were registered by the commission. This is a grave error that must be corrected.”

“The Electoral Commission has a duty to the people of Antigua and Barbuda to ensure that persons who are on the registration list are eligible,” he continues.

Symister says the UPP is committed to building a strong democracy and is pleased that eligible voters are being registered.

He adds, however, that while the UPP does not blame individuals, who might have registered, believing that they were eligible to do so, the Electoral Commission owes the public, more than just a simple apology.

“The Electoral Commission has taken the first right step in admitting that they were doing wrong for a long time. They must now take the second step and correct that wrong,” says Symister.

As the UPP chairman explains, the constitution requires that citizens must reside in Antigua and Barbuda for a minimum of three continuous years, ostensibly, in a legal position.

He says the Electoral Commission was registering persons, who might not have satisfied the requirements, since they were accepting receipts, instead of passports to show that the individual paid the immigration department, as evidence that they were eligible to register.

But Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Sir Gerald Watt says it’s the duty of the scrutineers to object to any alleged illegalities on the list.

Symister says this explanation is inadequate. “It is not enough for the Electoral Commission, merely to say that we have scrutineers, and if there’s a problem that they bring it to the attention of the respective political parties.

Neither is it enough for them to say that if you have a problem you can take us to court,” Symister explains.

He is adamant that while the problem no longer exists, since amendments were made to the People’s Act, there’s a strong possibility that the list was tainted.

Asked the way forward, Symister says the UPP stands ready to work along with the Electoral Commission and the other political parties to address, what he considers to be, a grave situation.

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