Grenada calls for referendum monitors

ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada, Oct 10, CMC – The Parliament Elections Office (PEO) Wednesday called for persons to be appointed as monitors as Grenadians get ready to vote in a national referendum next month to determine whether or not to replace the London-based Privy Council as the island’s highest court.
Supervisor of Elections, Alex Phillip, said that the PEO needed to persons to serve as monitors for the November 6 referendum to ensure that the exercise is conducted in accordance with the law.
“In a general election, the various political parties will have their respective agents to observe the process during the voting period, but because the upcoming polls will be a referendum there are no official observers but the law mandates that there be observers in the form of persons from recognised groups,” he said.
“Civil society groups and organisations such as those representing the religious community, fishermen, agricultural, charity and developmental groups can nominate persons to volunteer their service for this national exercise,” he added.
Phillip said that a referendum has nothing to do with politics so there is no political branding.
“It’s a national exercise and those who are serving as monitors will be there as a member of an organisation,” he said while advising that no individual can nominate him or herself to serve as a monitor but must be recommended by an organisation.
Grenadians will be voting almost two years after they rejected efforts to replace the Privy Council with the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).
In November 2016, Grenadians voted against the CCJ by a margin of 12,434 to 9,492 in a referendum that also had six other bills.
The CCJ Bill will be the only one for the 2018 referendum.