Voting In Anguilla

The Editor
The Anguillian

VOTING IN ANGUILLA

I tell you what:Voting in the Anguilla elections was the most archaic and arcane process I have endured in quite some time. The Governor and the entire Government for that matter ought to be so ashamed of the morass, that nothing else should be placed on the agenda of the Island Council but that which would reform the entire process before any other business is conducted.

Imagine this: the entire nation Iraq with millions of people hardly accustomed to voting did so in 8 hours. For 30 Anguillians it took 2 hours, and Anguillians have been voting for almost an entire millennium. The present system is inefficient, obviously broken and needs repair. It is inconceivable to me that an island with the world’s most advanced telephone system, Internet connectivity and banking system, still some how holds fast to the worlds lousiest voting process. And to top it all, my vote, no rather my mere presence to vote, was objected to by a self absorbed ego inflated poll watcher 40 years my junior.

When I politely asked that his objection be withdrawn, he refused, and I was given the choice to swear to or affirm my citizenship and integrity. I felt incensed, like being accused of a horrible crime, and insulted like being called a liar, that this place had come only so far as to forget the very historical events reiterated over and over again on the occasion of the burial of the father of revolution Atlin Harrigan. His was about securing for every Anguilllian his right to self determination, free from harassment by a despotic regime.

I hate to contemplate the possibility that one of my inte1ligent countrymen with all diligence conceived and implemented this system in use that allows someone to challenge any voter after the registration process has been completed and authenticated. But then the gerrymandering that is still in place which allows some 449 people to elect 1/7 of the legislature is also a disgrace. See the numbers for yourself..8% of the votes cast elected 1/7 of the Council, and in another district 21% of the votes elected another 1/7. Is there a One Man One Vote issue here?

I have great appreciation for and understand fu11y the need some have to maintain their status and sense of importance, but to waste other people’s time is unconscionable and should be ridiculed for what it is, harassment. Harassment of one political party by another political party is a practice that must stop and the people of Anguilla must hold their government and political leaders to the loftier principles expected of them. It is time for Anguillians to demand and expect that each vote would have equal weight as in “one man one vote”.

We must demand the installation or rather the instillation of “good sense” (we have no shortage of common sense) in our elected and appointed officials such that the technology of today be brought to proper use on our island not only for the internet but for ease of voting. Is there some law that states that only one person may vote at a time in a polling place? Could not 3 or 4 vote at the same time in 3 or 4 booths in privacy, and without doing fraud upon the system?(e.g. it might take splitting up a list of 449 names into 3 or 4 lists, (you know A-F, G-K etc,) and this might give 3 or 4 more people gainful employment for 3 or 4 hours .. should I go on or am I getting into higher math here?) Or that would be too efficient a use of people’s time to make that system workable you say. The whole voting thing would be done before lunch the poll workers could take a lunch break. The poll watchers would be totally confused and would not be able to keep up with who was being objected to, you say. I give up!

And by the way, how many people came over from Anguillita to cast their votes?

Eyston Hunte