By Tahna Weston
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The Barbuda Council’s biennial election is set for March 26, 2025 and the Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Commission (ABEC) is urging Barbudans to replace their expired voter identification card promptly ahead of the poll.
A voter card replacement initiative has been ongoing since last year and residents on the sister island are being encouraged not to wait until the last minute to go through the process of replacing their cards, which is needed in order to vote in the upcoming election.
Supervisor of Elections Ian Hughes said the cards are printed in Antigua and the registration officer for Barbuda will be able to collect them once they are completed, or an official from ABEC would take them over.
Hughes, who recently took a stack of cards to Barbuda on a trip there, said individuals applying now to have their expired cards replaced would be able to obtain the new card by the end of February.
The supervisor of elections addressed the issue of persons who might have moved from Antigua to Barbuda and who want to vote in the election. Hughes said that the person would have to apply for a transfer in order to “mover their registration”.
“You are now in Barbuda. You can start the process at the registration unit in Barbuda. Again, it’s only the start of the process because once you start that process, that application, the data is captured from that application process and then put onto what we call the list C and that is published [in the constituency from where you are transferring and where your name appears on the register] so that the persons there can check it to make sure that the person no longer live there, [but is now living in another constituency].
“The political parties also get a copy of that document or of that listing to do their own due diligence – their checks and balances in order to ascertain he is actually really in Barbuda and not still [some place else],” Hughes said.
He said this process would normally take two months as it is a part of the claims and objections process. But once this is done the individual may apply for their voter identification card.
Hughes noted that for those people who work outside of Barbuda but still maintain a residence there — there are provisions in the law to deal with this issue. However, a person cannot have their names registered in two constituencies.
ABEC is guaranteeing that persons who would have applied would have their cards in advance of the council elections.
But Hughes is again advising voters not to wait until the last minute to get this done in order to avoid a mad rush.
However, he said that ABEC would extend the hours of operation at the Registration Unit on Barbuda in order not to disenfranchise anyone, which is something that was done leading up to the by-election in St Peter. Even operating on weekends is a probability Hughes said.
For individuals who may not be able to replace their expired cards before Election Day, the law provides for the issuance of a special ID card on the day of the election. However, the Commission strongly encourages residents to complete the replacement process in advance to avoid having to wait an inordinate length of time to collect it on voting day.
“And we will be bringing a few extra persons across to supplement the team that is already here in Barbuda to ensure we have enough persons to work on the special ID cards when persons present themselves.
“The law says that the special ID card is only given on the day of the election so we have to ensure that as many persons as possible go before that time frame in order to have their cards replaced,” Hughes said.
Regarding candidacy for the Barbuda Council elections, nominees are required to submit a $50 deposit along with their nomination papers, which must include a proposer and a seconder.
To retain this deposit, a candidate must secure at least one-eighth of the total votes cast. If a candidate fails to meet this threshold, the deposit is forfeited.
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