Constituency 2 representative, Labour Party MP Marcella Liburd has accused Supervisor of Elections Elvin Bailey of engaging in illegal practices at the Electoral Office in a bid to disenfranchise supporters of the Opposition.
At a political meeting on Sunday, MP Liburd called on the Election official to step down.
“We keep saying lots of shenanigans, lots of breaches of the laws are taking place at the Electoral Office. People must understand what’s happening with this Supervisor of Elections. If he had any conscience he would really step down, because we have objection hearings going on at this very moment and there is a process and the Supervisor of Elections is supposed to be the person who ensures that he process is carried out and carried out legally.
“I happened to go up there Tuesday only to catch the Supervisor of Elections redhanded participating in the process, questioning somebody, who was objected to and came to a hearing and telling the person to go change their name and all sorts of other things.
“That is not his role; he is not the objector. The objector was not present and the Supervisor of Elections turn the objector because his job is to try to get the people names off the list, and so I’m saying what the Supervisor of Elections did up there on Tuesday was wrong; and only because I intervened and challenged him and told him that he had no right there that that person’s name is still on the voters list. They had already begun to take evidence from the person, imagine that.so who is taking the evidence? The Supervisor of Elections; he’s the one questioning the person. He had no call in it; that is not his role, that is not his job. And so after I questioned him is so he began to tell them that the evidence no longer exists and the young man could leave because his accuser is not there.
“We have to be so very vigilant because you don’t know what else the Supervisor of Elections is doing illegally.”
Freedom FM spoke with Supervisor Bailey, who denied any wrongdoing and explained what had transpired with regard the incident the MP referred to. He said he was not attending any objection hearing, but just happened to be at the Electoral Office doing some work at the time.
“It is never really my intention to get into a discussion with a parliamentarian or any of the politicians but the Honorable Marcella Liburd is dead wrong on this issue.
“I was having a conversation upstairs the Electoral Office with the Registration Officer charged with conducting objection hearings for Constituency #2 and a gentleman came in who was objected to and we explained to him that the person who objected him was not there so we wouldn’t have a hearing. The three of us- the gentleman, the registration officer and myself- proceeded to have a discussion where the gentleman objected to was asking a few questions about the process. I saw an opportunity to educate and I was answering a question that he had asked when Hon. Liburd walked in.
“Hon. Liburd did not ask any questions about what was transpiring; she just made an assumption- and you know what they say about assumptions. I was simply answering a question that the gentleman had asked and explaining to him about what the legislation says and how the Electoral Commission has interpreted the question that he asked. Specifically I was answering the question if every time he moves residence he would have to come in and transfer [his voter registration]
“Honorable Marcella Liburd by her own admission said she came late; she did not know what transpired before, she saw three people having a conversation and she makes her allegations based on that situation. So as I said before, Honorable Marcella Liburd is dead wrong.”
Mr. Bailey stressed that his role as supervisor of elections and chief registration officer to educate the public on matters relating to elections and he nor any one else at the Electoral Office has been involved in disenfranchising any voter.