By: Clive Bacchus
St Kitts and Nevis (WINN): The June 5 Federal Elections will feature COVID -19 protocols and all election observers will be local, that’s the announcement made by Supervisor of Elections Elvin Bailey Friday evening (May 23).
“…The elections will be observed by local observers – the Christian Council, Evangelical Association, and the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, ” Bailey declared while announcing that voting will be conducted with the COVID-19 Regulations in mind.
1. Electoral Workers and party agents will themselves adhere to COVID-19 rules
2. Stations will not be apportioned more than 450 – 500 voters
3. All voters will be expected to wear a face mask while standing in line.
4. Persons are expected to stand 6 feet apart while waiting their turn to vote
5. Upon entry into the polling station, persons will be required to sanitise their hands and temporarily remove their mask for ease of identification. Remember, the staff at the polling station will be equipped with a voter identification list or a picture list.
6. After voting, the voter will be required to cleanse the dipping finger in an alcoholic solution provided BEFORE dipping in the indelible ink
7. Periodically, about every hour, the table surfaces and the poll box will be disinfected
Mr. Bailey also announced the Returning Officers for the electoral constituencies:
– Constituency 1: Mr. Jermaine Lake
– Constituency 2: Ms. Sharon Hanley
– Constituency 3: Mr. Melvon Bassue
– Constituency 4: Mr. Meguel Thomas
– Constituency 5: Dr. Vincent Hodge
– Constituency 6: Mr. Edwin Warner
– Constituency 7: Dr. Patrick Welcome
– Constituency 8: Mr. Phillip Browne
– Constituency 9: Mr. Kevin Barrett
– Constituency 10: Mr Rohan Claxton
– Constituency 11: Mrs. Ermileta Elliott
Here are the sites for Nomination Day on May 27 as announced by the Supervisor of Elections:
– Constituency 1: Police Training School
– Constituency 2: Mc Knight Community Centre
– Constituency 3: St Johnstons Community Centre
– Constituency 4: Old Road Community Centre
– Constituency 5: Sandy point Community Centre
– Constituency 6: Dieppe Bay Police Station
– Constituency 7: Tabernacle Police Station
– Constituency 8: St. Peters Community Centre
– Constituency 9: Bath Community Centre
– Constituency 10: David Freeman Centre of Excellence, Market Shop
– Constituency 11: Cotton Ground Community Centre
He also outlined the process for Nominations Day and who gets to vote in the general elections on June 5.
“Candidates must be nominated by at least two registered voters of the constituency in which the candidate seeks election, subject to the conditions set out in section 62 of part IV of the Act. In due course, an announcement will be made of the successfully nominated candidates. The Register of Voters for this election consists of the persons who were registered to vote as of 31st March 2020. This is in accordance with Section 51 subsections (1) & (2) of the National Assembly Elections Act which indicates that the register should include the last publishable revised monthly list.”
