By Lesroy W. Williams Observer Reporter
” (Basseterre, St .Kitts) – In a sitting of Parliament this week, Deputy Prime Minister Sam Condor said the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis was now ready to conduct an election and lauded the new electoral law. “There has not been a piece of legislation that has had wider public discussion and debate anywhere in the world than this,” Mr. Condor said on Oct. 21. “This is not for the next election; this is for all time.” “Elections would be free from fear and it will be one man, one vote; same man, same vote; and the people will get the government that they voted for.” The Deputy Prime Minister said that the electoral process started immediately after the 2004 general elections and it was legalized and institutionalized in September 2005. “I want to pay tribute to the numerous Kittitians and Nevisians both at home and abroad who have taken part in this most important process and to salute them for their commitment to the electoral process, their commitment to democracy and their commitment to the furtherance of good governance,” he said. Mr. Condor said that a year ago he had the honor and privilege to table two reports in the National Assembly with respect to the new electoral law. One report was from the Electoral Reform Consultative Committee, which was chaired by Permanent Secretary, Mr. Elvis Newton. The other was the National Advisory Electoral Reform and Boundaries Committee, which was chaired by Mr. Raphael Archibald, OBE.”” On December 7, 2007, the passage of the new electoral act was brought to the National Assembly and on March 5, 2008, the same act was brought to the House for an approval to the amendment of that act, Mr. Condor said. “We intend to seek approval of this Parliament to amend the Constitution so that we could have the age at which persons could offer themselves for electoral office in this country to be reduced from 21 years to 18 years so that it can be synchronized with the age at which one can vote,” Mr. Condor said. “We also intend to have the Constitution amended so that we could remove the “Bryant” clause, and also intend to make an amendment to the dual citizenship as it stands in the Constitution at the present moment,” he said. Mr. Condor said that before the new electoral law there were 38,868 persons on the voter’s registration list, but now there are 26,638 registered voters. The voter’s list was a major concern in the electoral process, Mr. Condor said. “This government can be proud of the way that it conducted this whole electoral process. It was always our concern that the electoral process was one that was manipulated, corrupted, and compromised and so we decided that we wanted to have a process that was open, transparent and accountable and I think we have done exactly that,” Mr. Condor said. “In the past the list was not indicative of legitimate persons entitled to vote. It was a source of major confusion. It took the creativity and ingenuity of the government to find a way to make sure we could get a list that is credible, a list that reflects the accuracy of the people entitled to vote,” he said.”” All those who were registered in the past had to confirm their registration by October 4 of this year by providing their passport, social security card or birth certificate. The new list would reflect those who have confirmed their registration and new registrants. Each legal voter is given a photo identification card with other specifications that is to be used on Election Day.”
