Opposition parties expressed concerns over the security of overseas voting... ...said they fear the process could be open to tampering

Opposition parties concerned about overseas voting

By Taneka Thompson
Guardian Senior Reporter
taneka@nasguard.com

The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) and the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) yesterday expressed concerns over the security of overseas voting and said they fear the process could be open to tampering.

Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell, a former Cabinet minister in the Christie administration, said each party is allowed agents to monitor the collection of ballots, but he questioned whether they will be able to do this in every case.

“We need to sponsor the political parties to have agents at these polling places.  Each political party is supposed to have an agent who is supposed to monitor the ballots, the sealing of the box to ensure there is no hanky-panky,” said Mitchell.  “Now that you have these polling places overseas, the question is can the political parties afford to send an agent to do it?”

DNA Leader Branville McCartney had similar worries.

“We want to know the process in these various embassies to ensure the voting process is done properly and fairly,” he said.

“[The DNA is] not totally satisfied.  I’m not casting any blame really on the government or otherwise but human nature as it is and persons with their different preference(s) in terms of political allegiance, we do have some concerns.”

The DNA is preparing to take its message to Bahamian students enrolled in colleges overseas.

Last week, several senior members of the PLP, including party leader Perry Christie, met with students in Florida and Atlanta.

The trip marked the fourth time the PLP spoke with students enrolled in colleges abroad.

The PLP plans to take its campaign to Washington, DC, and New York.

Mitchell, who attended the student meetings, said connecting with young and first-time voters is crucial.

The DNA said it will kick off its overseas campaign soon, with planned visits to Jamaica and Canada.

McCartney said his party will also use Skype, Internet video conferencing, to reach out to students who are abroad.

Last week, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham said he is focused on campaigning at home and not grandstanding overseas.

“I am here.  I am here in The Bahamas.  I campaign here.  I don’t do such things.  I’m not a showboater.  I visit all the constituencies and on the 11th of this month we will visit North Andros, on the 18th we will be in Exuma...that’s where I am,” Ingraham told reporters on the sidelines of a rally in San Salvador last week.

Parliament passed ammendments to the Parliamentary Elections Act enabling eligible Bahamians to vote outside the country.  This includes students, staff at Bahamian embassies, high commissions or other foreign missions, and their spouses or members of their immediate families who live with them.

These voters will be able to vote in an advanced poll.  Their votes will be stored in sealed ballot boxes which will be returned to The Bahamas and delivered to the parliamentary commissioner.

Feb 07, 2012

thenassauguardian

Caribbean Blog International

Our governing party appears to be overwhelmed by the crime problem and the opposition seems to have no solutions to it

The third party and a crime plan

thenassauguardian editorial



More murders have happened in the first seven months of this year than during any other such period in the history of the modern Bahamas. Most of us, however, were still shocked by the news of the triple homicide that took place in southwestern New Providence Saturday morning. Two women and a man were murdered in what police suspect was a retaliation killing for previous killings.

The Bahamas is averaging around 12 homicides per month. On this pace, by the end of 2011 the murder count would be 145 in a country of only 350,000. This would be the fourth homicide record in The Bahamas in five years and the homicide rate in the country would be 41 per 100,000 population. This rate is eight times above the desired international rate of five per 100,000 population.

The governing party has a problem on the crime front. Homicide records have been set in all but one of the years of its five-year term. It has announced many new initiatives and brought on new personnel. Yet, the killings keep happening more frequently. It is hard to imagine what success could be reasonably claimed during the general election campaign by the Free National Movement (FNM) on the issue of crime.

The opposition also has a problem. It is stuck in the past. Whenever Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Leader Perry Christie talks about crime he keeps mentioning the police-led urban renewal program his administration championed. That urban renewal program would not have stopped the triple homicide on Saturday morning. And Bahamians know Christie’s repeated references to urban renewal only make him appear out of touch with the realities of the modern Bahamas when it comes to crime.

So with a governing party whose crime fighting measures, thus far, have been unable to reduce the homicide rate in our country, and an opposition that is stuck in the past, there is room for the third party to present a crime message Bahamians will at least listen to.

The Democratic National Alliance (DNA) should realize that crime is issue number one for Bahamians. Many feel as if the two main parties collectively are at a loss as to what to do to bring order to our streets and order to our criminal justice system. In an effort to appease a frustrated public, police charge people often with killings and robberies, but few of these people spend long terms in prison for the offenses they commit.

If Branville McCartney and his party continue to speak intelligently and constantly about the crime issue, with spokespeople such as attorney Wayne Munroe, more and more people will perceive the party as a group that is at least in touch with the main concern of the people.

Some in our country argue that bad people are killing bad people. Some senior politicians have said this. Many of the killings this year have been as a result of feuds between criminals. Our streets, however, are not war zones and no group should be so unafraid of the state that it openly conducts its business of murder while police officers simply collect the bodies. Our politicians and police should also not think that it is less important if killings result from criminal feuds. If those criminals today are not afraid of killing each other openly without being punished, one day soon they will feel so empowered that they will attack the public officials charged with capturing, prosecuting or sentencing them.

Order must be restored and our law enforcement officers must be able to intervene in these conflicts when they begin so that the first murder or attempted murder is the last.

Bahamians do not accept that we should just sit passively by and watch our country become increasingly violent. Our governing party seems overwhelmed by the crime problem and the opposition seems to have no solutions. The Bahamas needs a crime plan and a group capable and interested enough to carry it out. The new guys have an opportunity here. They should seize the moment.

Aug 02, 2011

thenassauguardian editorial

Caribbean Blog International