Residency is the key Requirement For Registration of Electors

The Electoral Office of Dominica informs the general public that a critical component of any claim for registration is the residency requirement.

The Registration of Electors Act (Chap. 2:03) requires that any citizen of Dominica who submits a claim for registration, must have been living in the polling district in which they intend to register for at least three (3) months prior to the date of registration.

For Commonwealth member state citizens, the requirement is that they be resident in Dominica for at least twelve (12) months and in the particular polling district in which they want to register for at least three (3) months prior to registration.

These conditions must be met when registering along with the age, required by the act as 18 or over, and citizenship. Electors must be citizens of either Dominica or any other Commonwealth Member State.

We also want to make it clear that Electors can only be registered in one polling district at a time.

We are encouraged by the recent influx of claims for registration as an elector, which is an important part of our democracy and the electoral process.

We also we urge persons to desist from making any false claims.

We admonish those persons who knowingly make false statements for the purpose of being registered as an elector. The public is reminded that any person who does this is by law guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of $1500.00 or to imprisonment for three months.

The Electoral Office and Registering Officers have increased their vigilence to guard against any such instances and the office will work with Law Enforcement authorities to give effect to the provisions of the law.

We urge the public to be guided accordingly and commend our officers at the Electoral Office and around Dominica who have been diligent in carrying out their function.

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