The Tribune

THE FNM is escalating its efforts to intimidate voters, the opposition PLP has claimed. In a statement issued yesterday, the party said while on the campaign trail, government members named a voter suspected of registering in the wrong place. The PLP said: "The case involves a voter who maintains two different residences in two different constituencies. Section 9 of the Parliamentary Elections (Amendment) Act 2011 allows voters in such a position to choose the constituency in which they would register. "The matter concerning this particular voter is under adjudication, and the Returning Officer in North Andros presiding over the matter has ordered that his name be kept secret." The statement said that in publicly naming the individual, the FNM violated the ruling of the Returning Officer - "hitting a new low". The party called it "a blatant attempt to influence the decision-maker and the Parliamentary Commissioner" by making it clear the outcome the government desires, "even though such an outcome appears to have no support from the law". Local officials in North Andros are conducting hearings into claims by FNM candidate Desmond Bannister that at least 30 voters from other islands have been flown in by PLP officials to register in that constituency. The PLP said: "In North Andros, the Prime Minister and the FNM ministers doing his bidding have turned things into a circus, harming the small community; the Returning Officer has referred to the process as 'divisive'. "The possible use of the police force to investigate political opponents, the hyped-up charges of violence and voter fraud, and now the singling out of a voter by name - the FNM is running an intimidation operation and they've invited the international observers, who will arrive late in the day and with a tiny team, for cover." The opposition further claimed that the voter in question has always had the same living arrangements, but the governing party was happy for him to vote in North Andros while he supported the FNM.