The Tribune

By SANCHESKA DORSETT

Tribune Staff Reporter

sdorsett@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement (FNM) Deputy Leader Peter Turnquest said the party has “serious concerns” at the number of discrepancies on the voter register and will be doing its own checks to ensure the upcoming general election is fair.

Mr Turnquest told The Tribune that while it is impossible to detect every case of voter fraud, the FNM will ensure that once the register is closed, there will be little to no inconsistencies.

His comments came a day after it was revealed that hundreds of names on the current voter register were duplicated and some perople registered in multiple constituencies.

The report in a local daily newspaper also alleged that dates of birth were incorrectly entered in the system, with some birth dates listed as being in the 1700s and the 1800s.

“Generally speaking we have some serious concerns,” Mr Turnquest said. “The number of instances with double registrations and persons registering in constituencies they do not reside in is concerning. There are also reports of theft at the Parliamentary Registration Department.

“All of these things raise concerns as to whether there is potential for an unfair election. We believe we will have a clean register once the registration closes. The Parliamentary Department will have the opportunity to scrub the register once it closes and we are sure they will do their checks.”

Mr Turnquest also said the FNM will be monitoring the situation to ensure “nothing slips through the cracks”.

“We will do our own checks, we will continue to do our own checks and see if we are able to identify the voters on the register. We will have our own analytics check the register and cross reference the names and constituencies,” he said.

“When something questionable comes up, we will highlight it and ensure the Parliamentary Registrar fixes it. It is impossible to detect each and every case; however, statistically speaking, we will be able to get a fair register at the end of the day.”

Last month, police arrested a man from Eleuthera and charged him in connection with a “voter fraud” investigation. At the time, Assistant Commissioner of Police Stephen Dean warned the public that the Royal Bahamas Police Force will take a “no tolerance” approach to such matters.

The arrest came a day after Parliamentary Commissioner Sherlyn Hall revealed that some people had registered twice at different sites for the same constituency, an irregularity that he said was picked up by the Parliamentary Registration Department’s computer database.

Mr Hall said the department noticed cases like these from voters in New Providence, Grand Bahama and some Family Islands, adding that at least one case had been turned over to police.

In the midst of these concerns, the government recently announced that it has received confirmation from two of four international organisations invited to send electoral observers for the upcoming general election.