The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THE voting process went smoothly throughout Grand Bahama, except for the delayed opening at one polling station in Freeport where some voters waited in line for more than half an hour, well past the scheduled 8am opening time.

East Grand Bahama’s polling division three at the Freeport Primary School got off to a very late start, opening at 8.35am. Polling divisions nine and 12 opened on time.

“They were delayed by 35 minutes, and I don’t know what that was about,” said incumbent MP Peter Turnquest, who reported that there were also a lot of issues with the register.

“We had voters this morning who had their voter’s cards but were not on the register. Unfortunately, we don’t know what happened with them, but they had attempted to vote.

“It is unfortunate that in this day we still have these kinds of issues and it speaks to the process. It speaks to the incompetence or wilful action, and we hope it is just incompetence because we would hate to think that someone would deliberately try to interfere with the electoral process in the country,” he said.

After he was declared the unofficial winner in his constituency last night, Mr Turnquest said: “I am elated by the results. I am humbled and I look forward to serving for another five years and I am certainly committed to the further development of East Grand Bahama and improvements for the people.

“Overall, I think the margin of victory was very gratifying and humbling. I want to thank the supporters and constituents again for their trust.”

There were long lines. At one point, the line at polling division 12 had come to an abrupt stop for 20 minutes after a female voter had been challenged by an FNM party agent over an address discrepancy.

Mr Turnquest was very encouraged by the turnout.

“We expect victory at the end of the day. The lines are long which is encouraging and it seems the Bahamian people are making a deliberate decision to choose their next government.”

Mr Turnquest of the FNM said Bahamians are tired and ready for change.

Ernie Wallace was very confident that Mr Turnquest would win.

“We know there are some shenanigans that are going on in Nassau. Hopefully, the situation with those ballots that are supposedly missing will be sorted out,” he said.

Voters in Central Grand Bahama reported that the process was very quick at St Georges High School.

Barry Malcolm said that the process went very well.

“In Grand Bahama, it has gone relatively well, but I am disturbed by what I heard from some of the areas in Nassau.

“This election is really transformative for the country. It represents a major shift from the Majority Rule generation in this country to the younger voters in the country. I think if you look at what happened with just the presence of the impact of social media on the whole election process this time around, it speaks to the very positive engagement of young people in our country.”

Mr Malcolm and his wife, Linda, said they are happy that their daughter Brittany is now able to vote for the first time.

“We are elated. She just turned 18 earlier this year and we were determined that we would all come out together as a family to vote,” he said. “I feel very good that she is voting for the first time, I hope her ‘x’ makes a difference. We are looking forward to progressive stuff in this country and a change is much needed,” said Mrs Malcolm.

“I was surprised at how quickly the lines moved and I was excited to be a part of it,” said her daughter.

The Tribune caught up with Marco City candidates Michael Pintard (FNM) and Norris Bain (PLP) at Mary, Star of the Sea Catholic Academy.

Mr Pintard said: “We are confident based on the work that the team has done and based on the response from the community. Today, we don’t anticipate that the smear campaign ran by the PLP or inducements they may have offered would make a difference. We are confident that change will come today.

“The wonderful thing about this process is that we are going to have a chance to have full and frank investigation of many matters that the PLP has presided over, inclusive of this election. We are confident, by the grace of God, that we will prevail,” he stressed.

Mr Bain was pleased with the turnout of voters, but said it was difficult to predict who the voters are supporting.

“Some people are turning out in colours, but the majority of people are voting in plain clothes and we are not going to make any prediction, we are just going to wait until 6pm. But I am glad to see that Bahamians are exercising their democratic right, and I feel very confident at the end of the day I will win Marco City and that the PLP will be returned as the Government of The Bahamas,” he said.

Mr Bain was concerned about voter intimidation and said that some party agents were in areas they should not have been in.

“One thing I have been seeing is what I term as voter intimidation. People are in positions they have no right to be in. The voter should be able to go to the poll and vote and the persons that are agents should be at least 100 yards from polling area…but we are seeing the law being violated where every voting area I have been, I had to deal with it,” he said.

Pakesia Edgecombe, the FNM candidate for West Grand Bahama and Bimini, said she is encouraged by the support of voters.

“We are really encouraged by what we are hearing and seeing on the ground. We are very confident in what we have done in the past few weeks and we feel we will be victorious,” she said.

Mrs Edgecombe reported that the polls opened on time in West Grand Bahama, but that here may have been one or two challenges in regards to one polling station in Bimini.

The Tribune attempted to reach Reno Smith, assistant parliamentary commissioner on Grand Bahama, but he could not be contacted up to press time on Wednesday.