Take a Bow: Dame Lorna Simon to retire after decades of service

Everything comes to an end. And for Antigua and Barbuda’s Chief Elections Officer Dame Lorna Simon, that time is approaching.

This year, Simon, who has been at the head of the nation’s elections since 2002 will retire from the Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Commission.

Dame Lorna Simon has been one of the nation’s top elections officers since 2002 and this year will see her end her decades of service to the Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Commission (ABEC).

Earlier this week, ABEC held a press conference, where Lorna spoke about the issue for the first time, reflecting on some of the major challenges throughout her tenure.

“The most challenging would have been in 2009 when some of our polling stations opened late as a result of our printing the register of elections at a late hour. One of the things that contributed to that was there were boundary changes, so when you print the register some persons’ names did not appear, so you had to be reprinted, and then at the last moment, a printer broke down,” she said.

She also reflected on the good times too, telling reporters that her time as an election observer in Papua New Guinea in 2017 provided her with the most rewarding moment.

Simon began her tenure in the civil service in 1969. In 2020 she received the award of Dame Commander, The Most Distinguished Order of the Nation (DCN), for her contributions to public servic

No announcement or suggestion has been made yet on her replacement but Simon said her choice is Ian Hughes, the Assistant Supervisor of Elections.

“It would be good to give up the reins at my age as I am no longer a spring chicken and I have said who I would want to assume this position, but Parliament has the final say,”

Hughes has been in the role since 2003