Criminal Charges Pending In Electoral Office probe? by LK Hewlett
Criminal charges could be brought against persons found to be involved in alleged breaches at the Electoral office, claims a government source. Anomalies in the voters list, and ballot boxes that wound up in the electoral office and were broken into are just some of the alleged breaches. The investigation was called for by the Unity government immediately after the February 16 federal election. The electoral offices in both St. Kitts and Nevis has since been closed to the public and staff temporarily relocated. The Observer asked Attorney General Hon. Vincent Byron Jr. if any electoral officials are indeed facing arrest. “The investigation is ongoing. It is a criminal investigation and it will lead wherever it leads,” he responded. AG Byron spoke to the nature of the investigation at a recent press conference. Although he had only confirmed previously that Supervisor of Election Wingrove George was “assisting police with their investigation”, it is clear that George is a target of that investigation. “The investigation is two-fold. In the first instance it deals with matters relating to the day of election and the activities that played out in front of the nation and entire region. “In addition to that investigation we do have a broader investigation of the office…we’ve had to look very carefully at the computer systems that had crashed, as these had been accessed externally,” he announced. He informed that the police are nearing the end of the investigation and the government is very keen to find out what has been going on in the office. “We will be able to say very shortly when the office will be ready to continue.” Recent reports by the Opposition newspaper that “foreign white men” had been seen going in and out of the electoral office on Central Street and ballot boxes had been removed was explained by the Attorney General. He told The Observer the foreigners were computer forensic experts from the UK who had been brought in to assist with the investigation. The Observer understands that the ballot boxes containing ballots from the election, which had been discovered in the Electoral Office, had been removed by officers under the supervision of a Superintendent of Police.
