By Tahna Weston
The expired voters’ identification card replacement drive has been beset by technical hitches which impacted 13 of its 17 registration units across Antigua and Barbuda. Around 700 eligible voters have taken part in the exercise to date.
The Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Commission (ABEC) yesterday attributed the difficulties to connectivity issues, telling Observer it was working extensively to address them.
All units – except Barbuda – came back online on Thursday between 12.30pm and 3.30pm. Technicians will be heading to Barbuda today to assess the situation, with help from telecoms provider Flow.
Public Relations Officer (PRO) for the Commission Elisa Graham told Observer that the cause of the problem was being determined through dialogue with the relevant providers.
She said the body had been in discussions with technicians from the Election Management System provider, the Canadian Bank Note, to resolve the challenges.
The ID card replacement exercise commenced on Monday across the twin island nation, but only four registration units were not impacted by the connectivity issues.
The Commission said in spite of the problems, as of Wednesday a total of 702 people had applied to replace their voters’ ID cards.
Meanwhile, the United Progressive Party (UPP) expressed dissatisfaction with the process.
In a press statement issued yesterday, the opposition party, which was initially opposed to the replacement exercise as it wanted a complete registration programme to clean up the voters’ list, expressed “deep dissatisfaction with the implementation of this important process” just four days into the programme.
UPP Political Leader Jamale Pringle said the Commission was making a mockery of itself and the voting public.
“After all the discussions among the political parties and the changes of heart regarding a re-registration exercise, my colleagues and I expected the Commission to be ready to roll out across both islands on Monday. We actively urged our supporters to go out in their numbers and update their cards – and now this,” he said.
The party is of the opinion that the Commission should have been fully prepared, to include conducting comprehensive test runs of the system prior to Monday, taking into account that it had several months to plan ahead of the August 12 commencement date.
