The current register now stands at over 189 thousand. Over fifteen hundred voters have been added to the register since the beginning of March this year, and since 2017, some 14 thousand persons have been added to the current register. Acting Parliamentary Commissioner is Levardo Duncanson.
“As a result, to the amendment to the Parliamentary Elections Act, which resulted in the continuous register coming into force.
“What has happened is we were targeting some 20 thousand persons as well as new registrants up to this point, we have registered up to some 14 thousand out of that 20 thousand and so we are trending in the right direction” he said.
The acting parliamentary commissioner is also seeing several transfers taking place from voters in constituencies impacted by hurricane Dorian including Grand Bahama and Abaco.
Duncanson is encouraging Bahamians who may have moved since the last election to take advantage of the opportunity to transfer their residence once they have lived in New Providence for 90 days or more.
“One of the things we have observed is that we are noticing transfers taking place from some of the constituencies in Grand Bahama.
“We are noticing transfers taking place in the Abacos, we are seeking to encourage persons who would have moved from their place of residence for a period of 90 days or longer, to come in and visit one of our registration centers so we can ensure that we transfer their address to their present location.
“We are doing everything in our power to continue to make the adjustment to encourage individuals to come out visit the centers so we can ensure that the address that they are residing at is consistent with what’s on the register and also to assist us in this regard.
“We will launch our scrutineer exercise at various locations to confirm what’s on the ground as much as it is possible to what appears on the register” he said.
Several Voter Registration Centers have been opened for expanded voter registration exercises on New Providence and Grand Bahama. There are seven voter registration sites here in the capital, four voter registration sites in grand Bahama, several family island administration offices are open to accommodate
family island voters. Duncanson is now making an appeal.
“We would like to appeal to as many individuals as possible who are Bahamians 18 years and older who have not registered as yet, to visit one of our centers so they can take advantage of the registration opportunity.
“The primary document that we are looking for the voter registration exercise would be the passport, the birth certificate, mother’s birth certificate, government id, so we can confirm that the birth certificate is aligned with the individual who is presenting and we have individuals who may present their previous voter’s card.
“Once we would have had the relevant information on file such as the passport, the birth certificate, that would have confirmed the relevant birth then certainly that previous voter’s card is a document that is presented” he said.
Individuals who may have challenges with registering can reach out to the parliamentary registration department on Farrington Road with their concerns.
