Caricom observers too, for general election

In a media release, the Office of the Prime Minister said Caricom Secretary-General Irwin LaRocque, “has confirmed that a Caricom Electoral Observation Mission (CEOM) will be deployed to Trinidad and Tobago for the September 7 Parliamentary Election.”

The release said Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar first mentioned the request for an observer team during the 36th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) in Bridgetown.

The Office of the Prime Minister said LaRocque has expressed that, in accordance with the procedures of the Caricom Secretariat, he will “arrange for the presence of observers to witness the conduct of the electoral process”. He further indicated that thus far, the process of obtaining personnel and financing has already begun and contact with the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) will take place throughout the preparatory process.

The Caricom team joins a separate team from the Commonwealth announced on Tuesday. A pre-electoral assessment mission began work this week.

The responsibility for requesting international observers is that of the Cabinet. In all elections since 2000 there have been observers. Observers from Caricom were present for the elections in 2000, 2001, 2007, and 2010.

There have also been observers throughout the years from the Commonwealth Secretariat. In the past these observer missions have repeatedly reported some problems in the system of voting.

For example, after the December 2001 election, a Caricom mission said, “the Mission is of the view that the large number of omissions from the Voters List may have created frustration for some voters on Polling Day. In cases reported to the Mission by Electoral Officials, for instance, some members of families residing at the same address were able to cast their ballot, while others were unable to vote on account of the fact that their names were removed from the List.”

It continued, “Although the Mission could not ascertain the full magnitude of voter frustration due to the omission of names from the List, it is felt that this problem is a serious cause for concern in terms of the credibility and fairness of the electoral process. Some of the omissions may be attributable to human error, lack of response by persons to notices issued by the Elections and Boundaries Commission, and inadequate time to prepare for the Elections. It is therefore the recommendation of the Mission that a further review of the Voters List would certainly help to build greater confidence in the electoral process. This recommendation, however, is not intended to obscure the positive and praiseworthy aspects of the process.” However, all elections have been deemed free and fair.