By Latrishka Thomas
With the impending arrival of Hurricane Tammy just days before the St Mary’s South by-election, the Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Commission (ABEC) is leaving nothing to chance and is actively preparing for various contingencies.
Supervisor of Elections Ian Hughes revealed that the ABEC team held a meeting to finalise their contingency plan for the October 24 poll, especially since they are unaware of how intense the hurricane will be.
Hughes stated that after the passage of Hurricane Tammy, “we will have to do our assessments to determine whether the polling centres are in good condition for us to hold the poll, and we have to ensure our staff can function without significant impact”.
Given the possibility of power outages due to the hurricane, he also stressed the importance of having backup measures in place.
The elections supervisor also stated that there is a possibility that the election could be postponed.
“It is possible that it can be postponed but there will have to be a state of emergency declared and then of course there is a process where there has to be a proclamation made by the government regarding the adjournment of the poll, and there is a 30-day window in which to reschedule the election,” he revealed.
According to section 31 of the Representation of the People Act of 2001, a proclamation can adjourn a poll due to factors such as a state of emergency, delays in electoral registers, or shortages of essential electoral supplies.
The ABEC boss said that they will monitor the situation and adapt their plans as necessary to ensure a fair and successful by-election.
The need for a by-election in St Mary’s South arose from the resignation of Kelvin ‘Shugy’ Simon as MP for the area.
Simon won the seat in the January 18 general election but stepped down on June 7.
His electoral win, securing the seat by a margin of 199 votes over the incumbent Samantha Marshall, was a significant milestone for the UPP.
However, the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) challenged Simon’s eligibility to hold the seat following the election.
The opposition argued that Simon, on the day of his nomination, December 28 2022, was still a civil servant and failed to resign as required by law before seeking the nomination. In an effort to avoid a prolonged legal dispute that could have hindered his parliamentary responsibilities, Simon decided to resign.
This resignation triggered the necessity for a by-election, mandated by law to take place within 120 days of his departure.
The upcoming by-election will see Simon, representing the UPP, run against Dwayne George of the ABLP and Andrew Antonio from the Democratic National Alliance.