The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

FORMER National Security Minister Tommy Turnquest insisted yesterday that the delayed release of results for the gender equality referendum was inexcusable, and has lowered confidence in the electoral process.

Mr Turnquest called for the political directorate to “fix this,” pointing out that the explanation proffered by Parliamentary Commissioner Sherlyn Hall was not a valid one.

“I think the excuse given was not a valid excuse,” he said, when contacted yesterday.

“In 2002, some 14 years ago, there were five or six questions and more people voted, and we were able to get results out that night,” he said, referring to an earlier constitutional referendum.

“That excuse doesn’t hold water, there is no excuse for it.”

In the hours following last Tuesday’s vote, the Parliamentary Registration Department released results for only six of 38 constituencies. The department pointed to electrical failures, technical issues and procedural breaches for its inability to report totals for polling stations throughout the country.

In a break from custom, Mr Hall decided not to release polling division results as they came in, instead opting to wait for all the votes from an entire constituency before issuing them.

National Security Minister Dr Bernard Nottage, who has responsibility for elections, told the media last week that he was not certain what went wrong, if anything.

Dr Nottage said the number of questions on the ballot, coupled with issues like scattered power outages, contributed to the delay in the release of results. While he disagreed with Mr Hall’s decision to withhold results until reports from entire consistencies were complete, Dr Nottage said the integrity of the process should not be called into question.

Yesterday, Mr Turnquest said: “It impacts electoral confidence if we can’t get it right now. The confidence level undoubtedly is not as high as it ought to be, so we have to find a way to fix it. The easiest way is to ensure – there are a lot of public officers sitting and retired who know how to conduct elections.”

When asked whether he thought Mr Hall should resign from the post, Mr Turnquest replied: “The political directorate should fix this.”

The June 7 constitutional referendum was overwhelmingly rejected by voters, leading critics to call for Prime Minister Perry Christie to resign.

“I think the Bahamian people ought to pay the Progressive Liberal Party back in the next general election,” Mr Turnquest said when asked for comment on this.

He added: “That will be enough for me.”