The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Senate unanimously passed the Parliamentary Elections (Amendment) Bill yesterday, allowing for a permanent voter register to be established for the first time in the country.

The creation of a continuous voters’ register was recommended by the parliamentary commissioner in response to the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The bill says: “A person registered as a voter entitled to vote at an election on the current register, shall remain registered as a voter entitled to vote at an election on the continuous register, unless his name is removed from the register by the parliamentary commissioner.”

Giving his communication during yesterday’s Senate meeting, Attorney General Carl Bethel said the bill couldn’t have come at a more convenient time for the country.

He added the bill, once enacted, would bring forth several advantages to the electoral process, including the elimination of long lines and large gatherings that fall in line with the current COVID-19 protocols.

“This bill is the right bill at the right time for the right reasons,” Senator Bethel said. “There’s been a lot of talk about it but nothing was ever done about it. Now, however, the exigencies that presently confront The Bahamas and the world, particularly, The Bahamas has forced upon us a long awaited and much needed change.

“… What we are avoiding by the passing of this bill is the spectre of mass mobilisation, mass registration because of this pandemic. It’s very simple, most of us have been through this before, we know that social or physical distancing is impossible.”

He continued: “They’re passing around counterfoils, you have to sign two sets - one to be kept in the records of the parliamentary commissioner and one that eventually becomes your voter’s card, you have to take a picture, they have to ask you questions, you’re face-to-face.

“You’re lining up for hours, sometimes lining up inside the building for hours, sometimes outside for hours and… with this process of affecting the most vulnerable in society, the elderly, the infirm and so, quite frankly the decision was made that it would be catastrophic.”

During yesterday’s Senate session, the Progressive Liberal Party also voiced support for the new bill, noting the advantages of having a continuous register far outweighs the disadvantages.

However, their support also did not come without concerns being expressed.

For his part, PLP Senator Dr Michael Darville questioned the accuracy and effectiveness of the databases that will be utilised to update the permanent register.

He also raised concerns on what sort of impact the new registry would have on displaced Hurricane Dorian victims, who have been forced to relocate elsewhere due to their homes being destroyed.

“How will the Parliamentary Registration Department manage the process of a change in home address of persons that are currently on the register? This issue is further compounded by challenges due to the displacement of persons on Abaco and Grand Bahama due to Hurricane Dorian,” he said.

“There’s an issue of the displacement of residents particularly from Abaco and East Grand Bahama who actually live. This is a really strange situation and it has to do with the disaster.”

He added: “These individuals spend most of the day at home at their destroyed dwelling trying to pick up the pieces, trying to get their residence up and going but they actually sleep in residences with family and friends at night while still trying to get assistance from the government to get their dwellings to a liveable condition.

“Given the fact that the voter’s registration is currently based on the building where you reside, would the continuous register take into account this important fact or will these persons be excluded from the register because you cannot determine where they live?”

Dr Darville also called for more transparency from the government concerning those registered as missing or deceased from Hurricane Dorian, insisting that PLP representatives need to be provided with accurate information concerning storm victims to ensure a smooth and fair process.

He said, “The amendment speaks specifically to deaths but not missing persons. Now, we keep hearing a lot of information about this missing persons list and the amount of deaths in Abaco and some reports indicate it may be thousands and it may be above 700 and we don’t know and we will like to find out, because if I’m not mistaken, I think this missing persons list is in the hands of the police.

“But, in order for us to particularly do our part as members to assist in the entire process to clean up the register, we need to know who these people are because we don’t want them to be popping up at the day of the election and we need to know about this because we do have people in Grand Bahama on our side canvassing the area and cannot seem to get access to whose missing and who lives where?”