Free National Movement Leader, Michael Pintard claimed that the names of hundreds, if not thousands, of persons have been left off the voter’s register at a press conference on Thursday.
Pintard told reporters that based on details relayed during a meeting with officials of the Parliamentary Registration Department and party representatives on Wednesday plans are underway for Parliamentary Commissioner, Harrison Thompson to consult with the Office of the Attorney General to have the omitted voters included in the general election on May 12th using white ballots instead of colored ballots.
He further stated that according to the Parliamentary Elections Act, section 58 (1)c any Bahamian with a voter’s card whose name does not appear on the register or is not listed in the correct constituency or polling division can cast a protest vote on a colored ballot.
Pintard said, “what is important is that we have a register where there are, quite possibly, thousands of Bahamians that have been left off the register and I want that to sink in for the Bahamian people. That you’ve done everything possible to register, to follow the law, you did so in a timely fashion. The government has a body that is appointed whose job it is is to make sure that all the persons who’ve registered when the day comes they are able to vote. Now we are finding out, five days before the election, despite their interest and right to vote, there are thousands of persons who are being disenfranchised because of the leadership we have in place.”
Parliamentary Commissioner, Harrison Thompson responded to Mr. Pintard’s claim. He said, “I hear one or two people say that their name did not appear on the register. But there are over 209,000 persons on the register. This is the largest its every been. So how many people could be left off? There is some discussion with the Attorney General that I am not able to speak to but is not to deal with those types of issues. We always have discussions with the Attorney Generals Office about certain things that deal with Parliamentary, but it’s not to deal with no 15 or 16 thousand people or whatever the number they have.”
The FNM has committed to continue to watch the Parliamentary Registration Department leading up to election day on May 12th.
