Voter registration – Many questions remain

Dear Editor

On Monday, March 9th, the day continuous registration was meant to continue, I went to re‑attempt to register to vote. The process at the Trafalgar Community Center was smooth and professional, and I was given a receipt confirming that my application to register was received and told that voter identification cards “should be ready in one or two weeks.” I have since learned, however, that no one – including those who began the confirmation process since last October – has yet received a new voter ID card because the system for printing the cards is, ironically, “not ready.” I also enquired later when my name might appear on the voter’s list, and those answers were not very clear.

Further, having taken an interest in voter registration, a friend then asked me about the Roseau City Council election scheduled for March 23rd. I called the Electoral Office and discovered two things: first, the May 2025 voters’ list is being used – not the in‑process list where confirmation is required – and second, because new voter registration was effectively unavailable for the better part of a year and only resumed on March 9th, no new voters who apply from March 9th will make it onto the list in time to vote on March 23rd. In other words, we now have an upcoming election in which many otherwise‑eligible citizens are effectively disenfranchised and cannot participate, and this disenfranchisement has, in effect, been in place for a full year.

How can the Roseau City Council election scheduled for March 23rd be allowed to proceed in these circumstances? How can any village council election held in the past several months be considered valid when, as reconfirmed by the Prime Minister, “Section 17(1) of the Registration of Electors Act clearly and unequivocally provides that there shall be continuous registration of persons qualified under this Act to be registered as electors. This imposes a mandatory and ongoing statutory obligation.”

I echo the Prime Minister’s remarks and agree with the obvious: that the right of every eligible Dominican to be registered to vote is “foundational to our democratic system” and that “our democracy is strongest when institutions act within the law, transparently, and in a manner that earns and sustains public trust.”​

Yet continuous registration had been impossible for about a year, and even today voter ID cards cannot be issued. In the midst of all this, City and Village Council elections are being held while eligible voters are unable to participate. It is hard to escape the conclusion that the Registration of Electors Act, 2025 was brought into force without the requisite coordination with, and readiness of, the body legally responsible for carrying it out. How can a law that requires continuous registration take effect at a moment when continuous registration, as defined by that very Act, is in practice unavailable?​

It would be very much welcomed if the authorities responsible for these matters gave the public a clear statement on two points: first, whether City and Village Council elections are legal under these circumstances; and second, a firm timetable for when the voter ID card system will be fully operational and how and when the lists are updated, so that persons like myself can know with certainty when we are actually fully and finally registered.​

What a mess!

Yours faithfully,

Gregor Nassief

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