Grenada’s main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has called for a fixed election date as it criticized the operations of the Parliamentary Elections Office (PEO) and the decision by the authorities to provide a 24-hour window for the registration of voters ahead of the June 23 general election.
NDC leader, Dickon Mitchell, appearing on a social media program hosted by the party on Sunday, said the announcement last Saturday night by Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell disclosing the election date giving voters just one day to ensure they are registered, undermines democracy on the island.
“In other words, only one day you have to try to register if you ain’t register yet. I warned you already, I warned you, I warned you,” he said, adding that the publication of the writs will be made on Wednesday, May 18, with Nomination Day being Wednesday, June 1.
But Mitchell, an attorney who is leading the NDC into a general election for the first time, told the program “an election is a very serious issue, it determines the shape of the country often not just for five years but for generations to come.
“It is a little unfortunate that obviously only 24 hours essentially in terms of a working day have been given to citizens who have not yet registered to be registered and I am sure they are displeased about that given that the election date is June 23.
“I certainly think that some more time could have been afforded to citizens who are not registered to be registered. It probably speaks to the mindset of the incumbent. Democracy, the rule of law, the right to participate in elections should be something that should be amplified, and our citizens should be given as much opportunity as possible to be able to take part in it,” Mitchell said.
“That is part of the reason why we have championed things like you need to have fixed dates for elections so that citizens are well aware in advance what the likely date is going to be, when the cut off period for registration is to be etc. rather than playing games and engaging in suspense and often times putting citizens at a disadvantage”.
Mitchell said the NDC, which governed the island from 2008 to 2013 and previously from 1990 to 1995, had also been critical of the PEO, saying “it has not functioned properly and at the standard citizens of Grenada deserve”.
He said many people had taken time off from their jobs and travelled to the registration offices, only to find them closed, or the technology to allow them to complete their registration is not functioning.
Meanwhile, in an open letter to the Supervisor of Elections, Elvis Morain, the NDC expressed its “on-going concerns with the management of the electoral process in Grenada, particularly the functioning of sub-offices in some constituencies.
The NDC warned that “if these concerns are not immediately addressed, it will not be possible to hold free and fair elections in the future, because the electoral process will be compromised.
