Chairman of the Electoral Commission in Dominica Gerald Burton speaking at a discussion on electoral reform at the Goodwill parish Hall said that for two years, the Commission has had available to it, the equipment, the technology and the draft legislation which will make it possible to introduce ID cards as part of the voting process and assist us in verifying the accuracy of the list of electors and thereby go a long way in modernizing our electoral system in keeping with international standards. However, he stated that “It appears that we have not had the political will, to engage in a sober and reasonable type discussion necessary to reach a compromise on the singular issue which divides us.”
I am of the view that we cannot allow our nation to descend into chaos over the failure of those of us charged with the constitutional responsibility to resolve this issue in a civil and mature manner
Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Gerald Burton
According to him, throughout the discussions on the “voter identification system” both at the “Commission and public discourse” he has made his views clear his views that unless they have had sufficient time to introduce the new system and to “satisfy ourselves through proper testing that it is fully operational I would not recommend that it be used in any upcoming elections.”
“I maintain this position,” Burton stated.
However, Opposition leader and leader of the United Workers Party (UWP) Lennox Linton who along with UWP Senator Felix Thomas who was part of the discussion said that electoral reform is not “rocket science nor is it nuclear physics.”
The agenda is simple, we have done our best to outline, an accurate registered voter…we believe a total re-registering of all eligible voters is the best way to clear out the list over a six months period and must be done exclusively in Dominica by the Commission and be guided by the residence criteria for voter registration.
UWP’s Leader, Lennox Linton
He continued, “The people are not interested in electoral deform, they are only interested in electoral reform and that’s the only way forward.”
He said that all “ID cards must be issued by the Commission in Dominica.” Linton said that over the years, the Electoral Commission has “refused to act” when the ruling Dominica Labour Party (DLP) government has engaged in “treating” and also “bribing” “paying the tickets of overseas national to come home to vote” thereby gaining “an unfair advantage.”
“We are a rule of law country; provisions must be engaged against bribery, treating and impersonation, illegal voting and election offences in general,” he stated. He called on the Commission to immediately set the machinery to have voter ID and electoral reform before the upcoming general elections.
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