The Tribune

By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

OPPOSITION leader Michael Pintard yesterday accused Parliamentary Commissioner Harrison Thompson of seeking legal advice on whether potentially thousands of people whose names are not on the register could vote using regular ballots in Tuesday’s general election, saying such a move would alter election rules days before polling day.

At an emergency press conference, Mr Pintard said the number of affected voters could be “several thousand”, adding that one source suggested the figure could be “as high as 15,000”. No official figure was produced during the press conference, and Mr Thompson did not answer calls seeking comment yesterday.

According to Mr Pintard, the Free National Movement received "reliable information" that the Parliamentary Registration Department, through Mr Thompson, sought advice from the Office of the Attorney General on whether people with voter’s cards but absent from the register could vote using regular ballots.

Mr Pintard argued that allowing people to vote based solely on possession of a voter’s card, without their names appearing on the register, would “decouple” the card from the register and undermine the electoral process.

“Once you say a voter’s card alone is enough to vote on Tuesday, once you decouple the card from the register, you are not just opening the door for the Bahamians who were wrongly left off the list,” Mr Pintard said.

He claimed that Mr Thompson confirmed when asked that his department had sought advice from the Office of the Attorney General.

FNM legal adviser Khalil Parker said that after the party received the tip, a meeting was held on Wednesday with Commissioner of Police Shanta Knowles, Mr Thompson and political party representatives present.

Mr Parker said Mr Thompson indicated that people with voter’s cards whose names were absent from the register would be required under the law to vote using coloured protest ballots.

When asked whether the PRD was seeking a "workaround", Mr Thompson said officials were "seeking an opinion".

"I indicated to them that an opinion would not change the effect of the statute," Mr Parker said. "I was advised by the parliamentary registration department that the Supreme Court was still open, which I took as a sarcastic reference to their ability to seek an opinion."

While Mr Thompson denied that the PRD would ask the Supreme Court for "an opinion or declaratory relief”, Mr Parker said he understood officials were preparing to make an application, though it had not been filed by yesterday morning. He said the FNM demanded advance notice if the PRD later decided to approach the Supreme Court.

Mr Parker criticised the PRD, saying the matter was disclosed only after questioning during the meeting and was "not disclosed voluntarily”.

Mr Pintard said the Parliamentary Elections Act clearly sets out what must happen when people have voter’s cards but are not listed on the register, adding that the matter was settled "long before this commissioner came into office, and it remains settled today".

He cited Section 58(1)(c) of the law, which he said requires people with voter’s cards whose names are not on the register to vote on a coloured ballot paper as a protest vote, not on a standard white ballot paper.

Mr Pintard argued that permitting people absent from the register to vote using standard ballots could open the door for fraudulent voter’s cards already “in circulation”, claiming the FNM had repeatedly raised such concerns with police and the PRD in recent months.

Mr Pintard said the commissioner was not seeking clarification, but looking for a way to bypass the law.

He also criticised the timing of the request for legal advice, arguing that election rules should not be revisited five days before an election.

"It is not the commissioner asking a question he does not know the answer to. It is the commissioner asking for permission to override an answer the law has already given," Mr Pintard said. "That is not a clerical question. That is a question about whether the rules of who can vote in the Bahamian general election can be changed on Thursday before a Tuesday election."

Mr Pintard also used the issue to broaden his criticism of the voter register, saying concerns raised by the FNM throughout the election season pointed to systemic failures within the PRD.

He said the party had repeatedly warned the government about omissions from the register, duplicate voter’s cards, transfer problems and alleged fraudulent voter’s cards in circulation, adding that the concerns were formally raised with both the PRD and the government over several months.

“We wrote the parliamentary registration department, we wrote the prime minister, we asked him in writing to remove the commissioner,” Mr Pintard said. “The country is now living with the consequences of that refusal.”

Mr Pintard further alleged that some voters who sought constituency transfers were unable to complete the transfer, while duplicate entries and deceased people remained on the register.

“When persons have died four years ago, you know, again, so these are the things that we are concerned about,” he said.

He argued that while some issues may reflect incompetence, the FNM believes there were also deliberate attempts to gain political advantage through weaknesses in the electoral system.

“We believe that this government is doing everything possible to frustrate voters, to find an advantage, which is a fancy word or phrase for saying cheating in order to have their way,” Mr Pintard said.

The FNM also issued several demands ahead of polling day, insisting that voting procedures strictly follow the Parliamentary Elections Act and the existing voter register.

Mr Pintard said the party was demanding that no voter be allowed to cast a ballot outside the requirements of the law and the official register “as it stands today”.

The party also called on Mr Thompson to publicly account for the number of registrations and transfers omitted from the register and explain the causes of those omissions before election day.

The FNM demanded that the commissioner disclose what steps had been taken to identify and remove alleged fraudulent voter’s cards from circulation.

Mr Pintard also called on the government and the PRD to make “no further attempt” through the Office of the Attorney General, administrative action or any other mechanism to alter voting eligibility rules ahead of the election.

The opposition leader said international observers confirmed for the election, including representatives from the United States Embassy, should be briefed on the matter.

“These are not unreasonable asks,” Mr Pintard said. “These are the minimum the Bahamian people are entitled to ahead of Tuesday.”