No special voting provision for displaced storm victims
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Constituencies Commission is expected to complete its highly-anticipated report for submission to the governor-general today, following a final meeting, according to Speaker of the House of Assembly and Constituencies Commission Chairman Halson Moultrie.
“We will meet on Monday and expect the report to be prepared now for June 7th,” Moultrie told Eyewitness News.
The report was expected to be completed last week.
The committee met last Monday.
Eyewitness News understands there have been differing views over the structure of the report.
Moultrie did not wish to comment on the specifics of the report.
“Whatever the final recommendations are we will submit that to the governor-general, who will pass it on to the prime minister,” he said in a recent interview.
“The prime minister then, if he disagrees with the recommendation, would have to bring to Parliament his justification for the disagreement.
“And of course, the prime minister has the majority in Parliament, so it is presumed that whatever he wishes, he will get. The Parliament has the final say.”
When asked whether there were challenges in finalizing the report, he said there were normal logistical challenges with members of the committee sometimes being unavailable to meet.
As it relates to the report, the speaker has pointed toward challenged constituencies such as Golden Isles, which had over 7,100 registered voters at last report.
It remains the largest constituency.
Five constituencies had fewer than 5,000 registered voters at the end of May.
Moultrie has said the commission will seek to achieve voter parity with a more even number of registered voters across the constituencies with the exception of the Family Islands that have smaller populations.
The commission has eyed approximately 5,000 registered voters per constituency, with a margin of 500 more or fewer than the average.
The commission was also considering a special voting provision for displaced Hurricane Dorian victims.
Many residents from Abaco for example have relocated to other islands and the United States in some instances.
The commission was seeking independent legal advice and an opinion from the Office of the Attorney General on the matter.
Moultrie suggested the government does not appear minded to change the law to make the provision, and impacted residents would have to relocate back to Abaco to vote there.
“There has been no initiative on the government’s part to amend the act, so we would have to go with the existing laws,” Moultrie said.
“What the existing laws says is that ordinary resident in an area six months prior, and so for those persons obviously who have been displaced by Dorian don’t qualify, so they would perhaps have to transfer.”
In April, the commission advised that it was considering as many as five additional constituencies on New Providence and Grand Bahama, though it was split on the matter.
At last report, there were more than 189,888 voters.
The Bahamas, with a population of approximately 400,000, has 39 seats in the House of Assembly.
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