By RICARDO WELLS and AVA TURNQUEST

THE voting process for party officers during the Progressive Liberal Party’s 53rd national convention was fraught with chaos and disorganisation, with the vote delayed by nearly three hours due to protests raised over the official registry, The Tribune was told yesterday.

The election was expected to run from 8am to 1pm, however, it did not start until nearly 11am and was extended to 3.30pm, 5pm, then 6pm but did not end until shortly after 8pm - when the final night session was set to be broadcast.

This prompted party officials to scrap the live broadcast of the event, which was set to be aired on JCN. The bungled process also forced the cancellation of the scheduled programme of speakers, with convention chairman Michael Halkitis telling The Tribune after 8pm that once votes were counted, there would only be an announcement of the winners and a speech delivered by the new leader.

The convention site at the Melia Nassau Beach Hotel was plagued by several power cuts last night. At 7:53pm, the electricity went off in the room where voting was taking place and the ballots were held. Many people in the room went to the polling area to shine their cell phone flashlights in the voting area.

Police also guarded the ballot boxes until the electricity came back on at 7:259, only for the power to go off again. The power came back on about five minutes later.

Earlier in the day, elderly and disabled delegates and stalwart councillors crowded hallways, visibly distressed by the extensive delays while Family Island delegates expressed concerns over their ability to make their return flights.

Frustrated voters underscored similarities between yesterday’s challenges and the problems experienced with voting during the advance poll for the 2017 general election.

However, most resolved not to let the stalled process discourage them from casting their ballot.

Protest

While officials gave a myriad of reasons for the delays, including a computer glitch, and inexperienced organisers, as The Tribune canvassed the convention floor yesterday, the central issue behind the hours-long wait was said to be an early morning protest of the register.

Chairman candidate Obie Wilchcombe confirmed that he was among those who raised issues with the convention’s commissioner and the party’s Rules and Credentials Committee shortly after dawn.

Issues included instances of voters being given the ability to vote twice; persons registered but not provided with voting credentials and persons left off the official register being allowed to still vote, he said.

Mr Wilchcombe told reporters gathered at the Melia, the party had to “clean up” its register before it could proceed with a vote.

However, due to the lengthy process and long list of issues, the decision was made to proceed with a vote, leaving the process open to any challenges that may arise at the ballot.

“The resolution was a general election approach where if you are not on the list, you are eliminated from the list and if there is a protest, the protest would take place in the hall,” Mr Wilchcombe told members of the press.

He added: “They got to a point where they had it pretty much organised, but they left open that if there is any issue, they can raise it during the voting.”

Asked to clarify some of the concerns raised by him and other candidates on the ballot, the former West End and Bimini MP stated: “Yes, you had (persons with the ability to vote twice), just like it happened in the Parliamentary Registration (Department).

“You may have a name there twice, or you may have a situation where somebody was on the voter registration and did not receive any identification, or someone who was left off the list, but had registered.

“So we wanted to make sure that everything and matters that were brought to the attention of those that were running, the matter had to be discussed with the commissioner and with the Rules and Credentials Committee, and they heard it through. The meeting started at six o’clock this morning and ran through several hours, they reviewed the matter and then they got the voting started.”

‘Inexperience’

The queries raised and the time given to resolve them led to hundreds of eager party supporters cramped in long lines for more than four hours in some cases yesterday.

One of the names challenged by several candidates was former party chairman Raynard Rigby, who showed up at Melia prepared to cast his ballot.

When asked by The Tribune the crux of the issue surrounding the protest involving him, Mr Rigby insisted he was in his right to vote and was not going to be turned away.

“As I understand, the issue is two of the candidates – Obie Wilchcombe and Glenys Hanna Martin – challenged some of the delegates on the register, including myself as a former party officer, which is absolutely amazing,” he said.

“The constitution speaks directly to all of the issues that they raised here today, but instead of accepting the facts, they opted to stress the process to the detriment of what you see here today.”

According to Mr Rigby, the PLP’s constitution permits anyone who has served as an elected national party officer the “lifetime right to vote” in any party election.

He claimed he, like any other former parliamentarian, senior officer and Cabinet minister associated with the party, automatically qualifies as a voting delegate once they leave office.

“They know that. I know that. But, in the name of frustrating the process, we are here,” he said.

However, former Tall Pines MP Leslie Miller pointed to the inexperience of organisers as one of the central reasons behind the delays.

“I am disappointed in what I have seen,” Mr Miller, a former PLP Cabinet minister, said.

“This has never happened before. They had sufficient time, but from what I understand, they have a lot of rookies running the show instead of the regular people. They have a lot of young people doing it and this is their first time and that is probably why you have most of these issues.”