Southern Grenadines residents should have no problem voting this election

“Misinformation can’t help us. It’s just going to distort and create conflict. That is not healthy for our democracy,” said the Supervisor of Elections, Dora James, as she dismissed rumours about voter registration in the Southern Grenadines.

In a SEARCHLIGHT interview, James outlined the electoral office’s constituency voter education meetings which grant constituents the opportunity to ask questions regarding voter registration.

“Some persons stated: ‘If you come from the Grenadines, and you moved, you can’t vote back in the Grenadines’. That is not true,” James declared.

The claims noted by James were voiced by the Opposition Leader, Dr Godwin Friday, on Wednesday, January 8, at the party’s first media conference this year.

During her interview, on Thursday, January 16, James detailed that voters may request to change their voting constituency, “for [if]you do not want to go back to the Grenadines, you have to request that. That is called a transfer, or a change of residence…the voter or elector- as we say, must request that change,” James explained.

James further said that a voter who wishes to transfer their registration must first submit a request in the constituency they wish to vote in.

This request must then be stamped and signed by a Justice of the Peace (JP), who will confirm that they know the voter and indicate how long the voter has lived in that constituency.

“If they say they live there for three months, then you can’t have a chance to vote,” James noted.

For a commonwealth citizen to vote, they must be living in the country for at least one year, and be a part of a constituency for six months.

James pointed out that the challenge arises when there are new applicants. Based on an interview, they determine whether the voter is eligible for registration. Constituents may run into problems if their voter card is lost or has expired, which would require re-registration.

“It is the same process- you bring back your data, and we update the data, except you have another request,” the Supervisor of Elections explained.

James also highlighted that after the passage of Hurricane Beryl, on July 1, 2024, special arrangements were made to have people registered.

Officers who usually conduct registration in the Southern Grenadines constituency were displaced by Hurricane Beryl, nonetheless, the officer attached to Canouan was able to move between that island and Mayreau.

“She was on Mayreau during the period, and she would come across on Wednesdays and do registration in Canouan. She would go on Mondays and do in Mayreau,” James outlined.

Voter registration resumed on Monday, January 13, 2025 after a break for the Christmas holiday however, they have not yet begun to register Union Island voters.

There are usually three sites for Southern Grenadines residents to register- in Union Island, Canouan, and Mayreau.

Workers from the electoral office and other officers are slated to travel to Union Island and conduct registration at the secondary school sometime towards the end of this month, “once we arrange our transportation”.

“We would go down and would carry four or five persons. The two persons from there [Union Island], and the other two or three from the [electoral] office, who would go down to assist just in case we have a large number,” James pointed out.

James could not say at the time of the interview how and where registered Southern Grenadines voters would vote after the date is announced for the general election, as the current situations may change.

A majority of residents on Union were uprooted from their homes which were wrecked by Hurricane Beryl on July 1, 2024.