People not registered to vote by February 6 will lose their right to cast a ballot in the February 11 general election, even if polling is postponed, a leading constitutional lawyer warned on Friday.
Senior counsel Garth Patterson, a senior partner in the Lex Caribbean law firm, was responding to Corey Greenidge, the Democratic Labour Party’s (DLP) candidate for Christ Church South, who urged Prime Minister Mia Mottley to postpone the general election, claiming that thousands may be unable to vote owing to alleged inaccuracies in the electoral register.
DLP leader Ralph Thorne has complained about the accuracy and readiness of the voters’ list and the preparedness of the Electoral and Boundaries Commission (EBC), prompting a response from Prime Minister Mottley, defending the integrity of the electoral process.
Greenidge asked the prime minister to advise the president to invoke Section 37(1)(b) of the Representation of the People Act, which allows for the postponement of an election by up to 30 days if the voters’ list is deemed inaccurate or unsatisfactory.
But while agreeing that the law permits such a postponement or extension of a polling date, Patterson explained that it does not expressly provide for the registration of voters once an election is called.
He told Barbados TODAY: “Voters who are not yet on the register must get registered between now and February 7; otherwise they will not have an opportunity to vote. If the president, after consultation with the prime minister, decides to extend the polling date beyond February 11, that will not automatically extend the registration period. The registration period is linked to the date of the issuing of the writ, and not the date of the election to be held. So, extending the date of the election will not extend the registration period.
“It’s clear to me that the ordinary annual update of the list is superseded by the requirement under Section 18 for a special electoral registration period. That is the controlling period. So, if that period expires before January 31, so be it, because that is the period prescribed by the law, once a writ for an election has been issued.”
He further explained that when an election is called and between the convening of a Parliament and the issuance of a writ for an election for the next Parliament, the law requires the voters’ list to be updated annually, no later than January 31 each year.
“Whenever a writ for an election is issued, then the law prescribes a special electoral registration period, and that is generally the period ending 19 days after the writ is issued,” Patterson said. “And then, within 21 days of the writ being issued, the final register of electors must be published. So, the timeframe is not later than 21 days after the writ is issued that the final list of electors should be published.
“And even though in this case the 21 days expire before January 31, there is no breach of the law because the annual update period is superseded by the special electoral registration period,” he said, pointing out that the writ was issued on January 19.
“If what he wants to achieve is the extension of the registration period, then the postponement of the poll will not achieve that.”
Asked if the DLP’s allegations are founded, Patterson replied: “I don’t know if the allegations are founded or not.
It may well be that the register is incomplete or inaccurate.
But from a legal perspective, the requirement is for theElectoral and Boundaries Commission (EBC) to update that list within 21 days of the issuing of the writ for the elections.
And it cannot publish a list after 21 days. And so, if there are deficiencies in the list, so be it. That is what the law prescribes.”
The Barbados Labour Party’s senior spokesman and general secretary, Jerome Walcott, has already rebuffed the suggestion, telling reporters recently: “The date has been set.”
Prime Minister Mottley has also rejected the idea, explaining that the law was on the side of the State.
On Thursday, Chief Electoral Officer Sherland Turton also addressed the controversy surrounding the integrity of the electoral list and the public’s access to it in preparation for voting.
The EBC started notifying voters last year that they could view the list, with the first notice published on Sunday, June 22, and the second on June 29, she said.
The chief electoral officer noted that people were given until July 16 to submit any claims or queries they might have had.
Turton said: “We sought to explain to persons that there would still be other opportunities to view the list. We are statutorily obligated to publish a list by January 31 each year, and that would have already been done. Additionally, last year we opened 14 centres from October 27 to November 14, where persons were again afforded the opportunity to go in, view the list and make any claims or submissions which they might have had with respect to whether they were on or off, and where they were, to let us know so the necessary amendments could be made.
“We also had 30 revising centres opened during the period Tuesday, January 20 until Monday, January 26 for persons to go to each constituency. A centre was opened in every constituency where you could go and view the list, and again make your claims. And then on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, January 27 and 28, those days were reserved specifically for persons who wanted to raise any objections to the content of the list.”
The update to the register of electors is continuing until Friday, February 6, said the chief electoral officer, with EBC Chairman Ramon Alleyne adding that the final list will then be issued the following day. emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb
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