Derek Achong
Senior Reporter
derek.achong@guardian.co.tt
The slow pace of voting in hotly contested marginal constituencies in Trinidad early yesterday morning drew the ire of the United National Congress (UNC).
Almost every UNC candidate and official interviewed by Guardian Media after the start of voting yesterday morning took issue with the delays, with some attributing them to officials of the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC).
Their complaints were further represented in dozens of legal letters sent by lawyers for various candidates to the EBC’s Chief Election Officer Fern Narcis and various returning officers.
Speaking to media personnel after casting her ballot at the Hermitage Presbyterian School in La Romain yesterday afternoon, UNC leader and candidate for Siparia Kamla Persad-Bissessar confirmed the reports of delays.
Persad-Bissessar said: “The process is very lengthy. I don’t know if it is a deliberate strategy to frustrate people or just incompetence on the part of some.”
“We will have a dossier of letters by the end of the day, but I pray that good sense prevails and there are no real restrictions and blockages of people casting their votes,” she added.
UNC candidate for Couva South Barry Padarath suggested that delays were caused by the EBC hiring inexperienced staff for the election.
“The EBC has hired several new persons coming in without properly training them. You are seeing the challenges of inexperienced staff not knowing how to interpret the election rules across the length and breadth of the country,” he said.
Padarath went as far as to suggest a more nefarious reason for the delays.
“It appears to us to be an attempt to frustrate the process,” he said.
UNC candidate for Barataria/San Juan Saddam Hosein said the party planned to report the issues to the Caricom and Commonwealth election observers invited for the election by Prime Minister Stuart Young after repeated calls from the UNC.
“I don’t want to accuse anyone of being deliberate but it seems that this is only taking place in several of the polling divisions that are traditionally very strong UNC-based,” Hosein said.
“I think it is prudent to let the observers know what is happening because it is voter frustration that is taking place and voter suppression,” he added.
In correspondence sent by attorneys Brian Baig and Richard Jaggassar, who served as election agents for the UNC Aranguez/St Joseph candidate, the party sought to officially highlight the delays at polling stations in that constituency.
“The voters report the experience to be “painfully slow” even though there is no line,” they said.
They also claimed poll clerks were not calling out the names of voters and their consecutive numbers.
“This will hinder our ability to track the voter progressions throughout the day and is a breach of the election day rules and guidelines,” they said.
The delays noted by the UNC did not appear to be isolated, as there were similar experiences for voters across the country, with a suspected higher-than-usual voter turnout.
PM Young had to wait more than half an hour at the International School of Port-of-Spain in Westmoorings.
“It is certainly the longest line I have been in since voting in T&T,” Young said.
However, he said the delays were not a conspiracy as suggested and might have been due to many citizens showing an interest in the election.
“There is a lot of interest in this year’s General Election and I read that as a very good sign. It indicated to me that democracy is alive and well and that people are taking their civic duty quite seriously,” Young said.
People’s National Movement (PNM) candidate for Diego Martin North/East Colm Imbert said he was pleased with the voting process at his polling station, which took three minutes to complete.
“It was one of the smoothest voting processes I have ever been involved in, maybe, because there were not many people there, who knows,” he said.
PNM national campaign manager Rohan Sinanan said his party did not receive reports of the irregularities claimed by the UNC.
“Everything went smoothly. I have always expressed confidence in the system of voting in T&T and the EBC,” he said.
“I want to congratulate all the citizens of T&T. So far, we are having an election that is free and fair or without any intimidation at this point in time and we really hope that continues.”
Patriotic Front (PF) leader Mickela Panday said her party, which fielded 37 candidates for the election, did not have an issue with the delays.
However, Panday, who contested the Couva North constituency previously held by her deceased father, former prime minister Basdeo Panday, said the issue highlighted the need for voting reform.
“I maintain the fact that the process is very archaic. It needs to modernise. When you have an outdated system or process room is left for things to happen,” she said.
National Transformation Alliance (NTA) leader Gary Griffith did not raise issues with the delays, which affected him, his wife and son, who voted in his first election.
Griffith said he was pleased with the presence of foreign election observers.
“Any time you have concerns it can cause instability, it can affect the productivity of the country.
“All I am asking the country is come tomorrow, we are all citizens of the same country. Let us appreciate and accept the decision made by the public,” he said.
There were also allegations from the UNC and the PNM of illegal activity such as voter intimidation, bribery and election-day canvassing.
Imbert highlighted the allegations in a post on his account on X (former Twitter).
“I am receiving several reports of UNC activists in marginal seats, such as Toco/Sangre Grande and St Joseph (Mt D’Or) attempting to induce voters to either stay home or vote UNC, offering $1,000 in cash,” he said.
“They could try all the dirty tricks they want. They will get the same licks.”
Speaking with reporters after voting, PNM candidate for San Fernando West Faris Al-Rawi made similar allegations of illegal conduct in the seat he contested.
Guardian Media could not confirm any of the allegations made, as no evidence was provided by either of the parties.
However, a man was arrested by police in St Joseph on suspicion of voter bribery, after he was held with $30,000 in cash and could not account for the source of the funds. He remained detained up to late yesterday.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Wayne Mystar, who was interviewed in San Fernando, said he had not received any reports of election offences.
“Usually, when I visit I would ask the officers if there is anything untoward and the officers indicated that everything was quiet and regular,” Mystar said.
A news team in Gulf View, San Fernando, yesterday morning, witnessed a police officer speaking to a resident who was accused of operating a mock polling station opposite a legitimate one.
The officer’s intervention was based on a complaint by UNC San Fernando West campaign manager Villianna Ramoutarsingh.