The Tribune

UPDATE: PARLIAMENTARY Commissioner Sherlyn Hall said today that his contract had expired and he had not sought an extension. Full story HERE

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

PARLIAMENTARY Commissioner Sherlyn Hall yesterday repeatedly dodged questions from the press as chaos unfolded at the advanced poll in the capital.

yesterday repeatedly dodged questions from the press as chaos unfolded at the advanced poll in the capital.

Scores of hopeful voters were reportedly turned away from the Kendal G L Isaacs Gymnasium, some of whom descended upon the Parliamentary Registration Department (PRD) angry and frustrated that they had waited in long lines for more than three hours only to discover that their names were not on the register.

One PLP poll worker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said: “If it was the purpose to disenfranchise the worker it has been achieved if you’re standing on that line for seven hours to get to the top and be told that your name is not on the list. I watched personally a woman faint, I understand earlier other people were fainting too”.

She continued: “If we’re working next we want to be there, we don’t want to be moving, I don’t allow my people to move, the point was today.”

During the three hours that The Tribune was stationed at the department, this newspaper observed complaints from Family Islanders, police officers and poll monitors across the political divide who were all turned away after standing in the blistering heat and unable to gain any insight from department employees.

In response to an aggravated voter, a senior official at the PRD noted that the names of several workers from the department were also not on the list, and as such, they were unable to take part in the early vote.

This comes as anecdotal reports emerged concerning the difficulties faced by Bahamians attempting to cast their vote at overseas missions in Atlanta (where there were reportedly no voter’s cards ready and people were being processed up to 9pm), London (where a Bahamian student travelled the 190 miles from Leeds to be told her name was not listed and by the time they established her credentials she was on the return journey) and even China.

The Tribune attempted to put these questions to Mr Hall yesterday; however, he told this newspaper shortly before 6pm that he could not take questions “at this time” because he was in another meeting.

Among the scores of frustrated voters, The Tribune also saw Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson, Deputy Prime Minister Philip Davis, National Security Minister Dr Bernard Nottage, and Minister of Education Jerome Fitzgerald.

It was not clear why the Cabinet members were at the department as they did not take questions from the press; however, both Mr Davis and Dr Nottage said they were operating in their capacity as politicians at the time.

Mr Fitzgerald arrived sometime after The Tribune had taken up watch outside Mr Hall’s office, and the other Cabinet members were already at the department when this newspaper got there.

Meanwhile, The Tribune was still unable to get a physical copy of the certified register up to press time.

However, this newspaper was able to confirm yesterday that the final number of registered voters stands at 181,543. There are 123,783 registered voters in New Providence, with 29,515 in Grand Bahama, and 28,245 in the Family Islands.