BPM writes to ABEC about transfer of voters from other constituencies into Barbuda

The Barbuda Peoples Movement has written to the Supervisor of Elections Dame Lorna Simon about concerns regarding the transfer of electors from other constituents to Barbuda.

Trevor Walker, the leader of the BPM made his concerns known in a letter to Dame Lorna, copied to the ABEC Commonwealth Observer Mission, CARICOM Observer Mission, OAS Secretariat and the Free & Fair Elections League

He said electors are being transferred to the Barbuda Constituency list of electors without adequate provisions being put in place to allow transparency and the opportunity for the claims and objections process to work as intended.

The party he said, is also registering its deep concern regarding the delayed publication of the register for elections.

“The intention to publish the list of electors on January 13th, 2023 has not allowed the public to examine the elector list and have the opportunity to object to individuals who do not qualify and are seeking to register or get transferred onto the Barbuda list of electors” Walker stated.

Furthermore, Walker said the deadline for claims and objections occurred on Monday 9th January and at that point, the final list of electors for the 18 January election was not published and available to the general public.

“We have heard the Prime Minister indicating publicly that persons who work in Barbuda and are resident in Antigua will be allowed to vote in Barbuda. On Tuesday 10 January, we witnessed a large number of migrant workers being transported to the registration unit in Codrington. That created much concern among Barbudans,” the statement from the BPM stated

Additionally, Walker said the BPM have experienced a situation where their claims and objections to certain names that have been published on previous lists have received no response from the Registration Officer indicating whether these claims have been processed.

“All these incidents have created deep mistrust of the process especially when taken in the context of the Prime Minister’s public statement indicating intent to influence the outcome of the election in Barbuda to facilitate certain agendas which the people of Barbuda and their local government, the Barbuda Council, do not support,” he said.

The BPM is requesting urgent attention to these concerns that have been raised and action to correct the irregularities.

“The party will be copying this letter to the various Observer missions that will be here to observe the conduct of the election and to the Press for public record,” the statement read.