Electoral authorities said Monday they were fully prepared to conduct Tuesday’s Nomination Day, with all centres staffed, security arrangements in place and candidates advised on collecting their nomination packages.
Chief Electoral Officer Sherland Turton said that readiness entailed having the nomination centres in place.
“We needed to have the nomination centres in place, personnel to man the nomination centres, the police to be informed to be present on the day, to have the candidates aware of, and to collect their nomination packages,” Turton told Barbados TODAY.
The chief electoral officer also gave assurance that there were no lingering challenges on the eve of the day.
More than 80 hopefuls are in the race for a seat in the 30-member House of Assembly, including Steve Prescott, the leader and only candidate contesting a seat for his newly formed Reform Barbados party.
The two main parties – the Barbados Labour Party (BLP), which formed the last administration and the then opposition Democratic Labour Party (DLP) – are fielding candidates in all 30 constituencies.
The polls will also be contested by recently established fringe parties – the Friends of Democracy (FOD), which is vying for 12 seats, and the new three-party People’s Coalition for Progress (PCP) alliance, which is made up of the New National Party (NNP), the Conservative Barbados Leadership Party and the United Progressive Party (UPP).
Up to the time of publication, one independent was known to be in the race.
All the prospective candidates have expressed confidence in victory in the February 11 general election, which was called a year before it was constitutionally due. (EJ)
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