The Tribune

Tribune reporter Ricardo Wells was assigned to cover the announcement of referendum results on Tuesday night. This is his account of the chaos that unfolded.

PARLIAMENTARY Commissioner Sherlyn Hall yesterday refused to clarify the procedural failures of his office in its handling of Tuesday’s Constitutional Referendum vote.

Claiming exhaustion, Mr Hall indicated to The Tribune that neither he nor officials within the office of the Parliamentary Registration Department would conduct any further interviews with the press pertaining to the referendum.

On Tuesday, amid scenes of confusion and technical issues, the department became the public focal point of the vote as its leading official declared the “overwhelming rejection” of all four amendments on national television, despite not presenting totals from the vast majority of the 38 constituencies.

Former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham criticised the government for “incompetence” in the conduct of the election, saying that the lack of declared results was unprecedented. In Bahamian elections it is customary that, by the end of the night, the overall results are complete in all constituences.

On Tuesday afternoon, members of the press had been asked to assemble at the department’s Farrington Road offices to cover the results of the referendum as they became known. Personnel from various media outlets gathered in a lunchroom converted into a “press centre” by department staff.

Closer to 5pm, technicians from two of the country’s foremost broadcasting stations were given the go-ahead to set up their live feeds from the office, with ZNS being given control of the entire room reserved for the press while Our News were handed a similar, but larger space across the hall.

Other media outlets were assigned to a third office further down the hall and told that “runners” were in place to gather results and disseminate them.

Nearing 7pm, Mr Hall offered his first interview to acknowledge the closure of polls and the tallying of initial ballots. He spoke first to ZNS, followed by Our News and then to The Tribune. He maintained throughout all three interviews that voter turnout at some stations was considered low and that no incidents of note had been reported.

After Mr Hall returned to his office, between 7.15 and 7.30 news began to circulate that results from various Family Island polling stations were being reported by ZNS. At this point, officials at the Parliamentary Registration Department were unable to confirm or deny if the numbers were true, as officials on those islands addressed members of the press stationed on the islands.

Around 7.45pm, there was chaos as reports patched into the department were handed over to various media outlets prior to being vetted by Mr Hall.

This decision breached the department’s protocol and led to the office rejecting media reports and implementing a moratorium on results being given to the press. Despite this decision, both broadcasting outlets were allowed to conclude the constituency bulletins that were in progress and mandated to return the tally sheets to the office of Mr Hall once concluded.

Around 8.45pm, officials were still waiting for tally sheets. At 9pm, the office announced that no results would be presented to the press until all polling stations from a constituency were accounted for.

More than a half hour later, results for the Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador; Mangrove Cay and South Andros and the North Andros and Berry Island constituencies, were made available. That was followed by Bamboo Town at 10.15pm, the first result from New Providence.

Some officials from the island’s constituencies were surprised to find when they arrived that results they had returned much earlier in the evening had not been declared.

Despite the limited results, PLP Chairman Bradley Roberts released a statement appearing to concede the Constitutional Referendum. “The will of the Bahamian people was expressed unfettered in the historic June 7 gender equality referendum as Bahamians went to the polls and respectfully and peacefully exercised their voting franchise,” Mr Roberts said. “I thank them for their solemn and reverential respect for the democratic process.”

Carmichael and Elizabeth - without four polling divisions - followed shortly after.

It was around this time the department began to indicate there had been power issues at some polling stations and communication issues at others.

According to Mr Hall, a power outage meant that ballots could not be read and limited reports from the Montagu constituency. Additionally, issues with the department’s fax machines limited the reporting of results in “a number of other” constituencies. Some officials at the facility indicated problems with the three copiers - which reportedly cost $75,000 - in the building, with the internet and the failure of telephone communications.

At 11.45pm, Mr Hall gave his final interview to members of the press.

rwells@tribunemedia.net