By AVA TURNQUEST
Tribune Chief Reporter
aturnquest@tribunemedia.net
FREE National Movement Chairman Sidney Collie yesterday declared that his party’s “red flag is waving” after an inspection revealed that ballot boxes containing hundreds of votes from the advanced poll were “poorly” sealed, and for one constituency left unsealed.
Recalling the chaotic scenes from last week’s early poll, Mr Collie stressed that he was not making an allegation against the Parliamentary Registration Department but a call-to-arms for poll workers, candidates and the wider voting public to be vigilant as votes are cast across the country today.
He underscored that all 39 ballot boxes were locked with their slots covered, and kept in the basement of the Parliamentary Registration Department in a safe room with a steel door and multiple locks.
“With regard to the sealing of the boxes,” Mr Collie said in an interview at the party’s headquarters, “many of them were poorly sealed. The wax was badly, roughly, quickly done. The taping around many of them were sloppy. They were all locked and the slot for the ballot was all covered over.”
Representatives from the FNM, Progressive Liberal Party, and the Democratic National Alliance were allowed to inspect the ballot boxes yesterday due to allegations circulated on Facebook by DNA candidate for Pinewood Lincoln Bain that the boxes were not being kept in a secure location.
Mr Bain recorded a brief video at the start of yesterday’s inspection, which he then uploaded to Facebook.
In the video, he gestured to several boxes that had been wrapped with tape that appear to be fraying or unsealed.
Mr Collie noted that one ballot box containing votes cast in Mount Moriah was particularly concerning because it had no wax, seal, or tape; while another box containing Pinewood votes was so poorly done that it was falling apart.
“What is my take on that?” Mr Collie asked. “My take on that was speculation, but I believe plausible speculation. The parliamentary team was so much under pressure on the pre-poll day, they were so disorganised, they probably were flustered and almost in every case they did a very poor job of securing the box.
“I’m not making any allegations against them,” he continued, “I’m just saying from what I saw the boxes were not properly sealed, they were not properly waxed, many of them the seal was broken and just flapping and the masking tape that was put around the edge of the box was not, many of them was just very sloppy.’
He added: “I mean if I’m doing my luggage I do a better job than that.”
There were 8,537 voters registered for the advanced poll, according to the department, with 6,994 voters from New Providence, 1,152 from Grand Bahama and 391 from the Family Islands.
Last week’s chaotic scene was compounded by a number of irregularities, such as late ballot boxes, the absence of scores of voter names that were allegedly approved for the early poll and voter’s cards stamped with the incorrect date.
The following day, former Parliamentary Commissioner Sherlyn Hall announced that his contract had expired and that he did not seek an extension.
When asked to account for the chaotic scenes, Mr Hall said that Wednesday’s exercise did not follow his directives, and suggested that the blame should instead be placed on senior officials that he appointed to carry out specific functions.
He singled out returning officer Carl Smith, a permanent secretary in the Ministry of National Security.
A ZNS news report confirmed yesterday that Mr Smith has resigned his post as a returning officer.
However, acting Parliamentary Commissioner Charles Albury was not available to take questions from The Tribune up to press time.
When asked yesterday whether the party was satisfied heading into the polls, Mr Collie said: “I’ve been a public critic so everything I say people hang their word on. So I want to be responsible in what I say, I am mindful of the chaos on the pre-poll day, I’m also mindful of the unsatisfactory state of the register leading up to the pre-poll day.
He said: “I have not been convinced that the now certified register is absolutely clean. I’ve been given the word of the new parliamentary commissioner and Mr Thompson that the register is certified and it’s ready and that the team is in place and they’re ready for a smooth conduct of election.
“I don’t want to go beyond that other than to say all FNM poll workers and all candidates ought to remain vigilant.”
Mr Collie added that the party was prepared to contest the results in election court if there are any doubts that the process was not free and fair.
“The election court . . . is a definite option. What we want is a fair election and a clean process, peaceful, because we are confident we will win and we will have no need to go to election court.
“If that doesn’t happen you can bet your bottom dollar we will be in election court,” he said.
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