ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – The primary opposition, United Progressive Occasion (UPP), says it should not pursue authorized motion difficult the choice taken by the Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Fee (ABEC) to conduct a voter identification card substitute program as an alternative of a whole re-registration train.
ABEC had deliberate a whole re-registration train to handle the expiration of over 40,000 voter ID playing cards in March 2024. Nevertheless, ABEC later determined {that a} substitute program can be simpler in serving the electoral course of.
The voter identification card substitute program has now commenced throughout all 17 constituencies. In Might, the UPP’s Common Council opposed the reversal, citing considerations about voter checklist integrity and alleged voter transfers by Prime Minister Gaston Browne.
UPP chief Jamale Pringle stated a case from that incident had already been filed earlier than the court docket.
“Everyone knows that, as well as, too many deceased individuals stay on the voter’s checklist; the Prime Minister himself admitted to some extremely questionable transfers forward of the January 2023 common election.
“I need to remind the general public that the occasion and its representatives took a number of actions to carry the system accountable. Brother Allister Thomas, the caretaker for St John’s Metropolis West, tried to safe a duplicate of the image checklist used on election day, and ABEC refused; that matter is now earlier than the court docket.”
However talking at a information convention on Monday, the UPP’s authorized workforce, together with lead lawyer Kendrickson Kentish and former lawyer common Justin Simon KC, stated the occasion was altering its place.
“A choice has been taken that the occasion is not going to be launching an instantaneous problem to the validation of voter ID playing cards going down in the present day,” Kentish stated.
“We consider that the power and focus should be on guaranteeing that no voter is disenfranchised on this course of and that the entire train will probably be honest to the voters and the political events concerned.
“We will probably be observing the method, taking directions from these concerned within the course of, the scrutineers, and if there are critical irregularities within the card validation course of, the United Progressive Occasion will probably be taking authorized motion.”
Simon stated two components underlined the occasion’s determination.
“Two issues we had to have a look at very critically; one, the court docket course of would take fairly a while, given our backlog, given the type of proof that we must current in court docket, and secondly, the price of a re-registration train needed to be taken under consideration, as a result of on the finish of the day, it’s the taxpayers who’re going to have to fulfill that value and it will be exorbitant.”
He stated that, given these two components and the truth that the voter playing cards can be validated, it will permit individuals to submit their expired playing cards, for them to present proof of handle,” and we having scrutineers there to make sure that the method is duly adopted.”
Regardless of withdrawing the authorized problem, the UPP stated it will proceed monitoring the voter ID card substitute train carefully and reserves the fitting to pursue authorized motion if any irregularities are detected in the course of the course of.
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