Voters that registered before the constituency boundaries were changed last November may have noticed changes made to their voters cards.
The polling division numbers were crossed out and new numbers have been written in red ink. The same was done in the case of constituency names.
While some may believe that this practice could lead to fraudulent behavior, Parliamentary Commissioner Errol Bethel said it’s a normal practice that hasn’t given the Parliamentary Registration Department any problems in the past.
“We’ve been doing this for many years,” he told The Nassau Guardian last week. “Why would that be a concern to me? We are allowed to do it in law. The law says that when you have constituency changes you have to make your adjustments, and we made it so it can stand out, so that everyone knows what the new constituency is and what the new polling division is.
“We have been doing this from time immemorial. That’s the way it works.”
He said around the time the boundaries were changed, he had already complied 100,000 voters cards.
He said the majority of them were already marked.
“I must go and write, 60, 70, 80 thousand cards in a period of weeks?” he asked.
He said his department was mandated to issue the cards within the first year, so it made the changes quickly.
He added that when a card is presented at a polling station, the information on the card is compared to a register and cross checked by several people. If your name is not on the list at the polling station, you cannot vote there.
Up to last week 152,000 Bahamians had registered to vote, which has surpassed the amount registered in 2007.
Bethel said the numbers were high, adding that about 500 people per day were registering in New Providence since the department started issuing voters cards.
Source: The Nassau Guardian
