By Lincoln Depradine
Caribupdate Weekly
St. George’s, Grenada:February 20, 2013- If general elections are measured solely on the basis of the two important but hackneyed words – free and fair – then Tuesday’s polling in Grenada was another success.
That’s not to say that in the election process – from the registration of voters, to the publication and verification of the voters’ list, to the delivery of voters’ ID, to the voting on Tuesday – there isn’t room for improvement.
From time to time, there have been genuine concerns and questions about the process. That’s separate and apart from issues raised principally based on political jockeying and fuelled by paranoia or ignorance of the process.
Often, we’ll hear some people throw up the spectre of the election being stolen.
The reality is that with our current electoral system it is extremely difficult for any one person or group to “thief’’ an election; not impossible, but highly difficult.
A stolen election would require a conspiracy among people across various sectors, including agents in the Parliamentary Elections’ Office, Royal Grenada Police Force, returning officers, and residents of different communities.
And, all involved in the conspiracy to rig the poll must swear an oath to speak to no one else about the plan and actually not do so; not an easy feat to accomplish in Grenada where keeping things confidential is an alien concept.
However, in spite of the positives of the electoral system, there are measures that should be adopted to further modernize it without compromising its safety features.
At the moment, advanced polling is accorded police officer. This year, they voted on Friday, February 15. The rest of the nation cast ballots Tuesday.
This advanced balloting option should be extended to other Grenadians.
There are many Grenadians who, either had to leave the country for personal or business reasons, or for some other purposes, were unable to vote Tuesday.
Instead of disenfranchising those who cannot or would not be able to vote on general election polling day, let’s offer them the option to vote in advance of the day as is the case with RGPF officers.
I’m hoping also that soon – very soon – we’ll eliminate the practice of having to stain our fingers just to spend a few seconds or minutes to cast a ballot.
We understand the genesis of the ink-stained finger.
Its introduction was at a time when the system was so porous and so easily manipulated, that multiple voting by one person and election rigging were a constant worry and a reality.
We believe that with the strengthening of other parts of the election machinery, such as the enhancement of the registration system and in the processing of the new ID cards, we must do away with finger-staining.
Let’s move into the 21st century and shed the image of a “Banana Republic’’ by soon ending this finger-staining practice.
To perpetuate it, smacks of a mistrust of Grenadians; that, we all cannot be trusted to vote honestly and in one place – and one place only – in choosing a government.
We also should relook some other laws governing our elections; for example, the law about not selling alcohol on election day.
Is the message, from the framers of the law, that the “ignorant natives’’ will consume so much alcohol that they’ll go into a craze and steal ballot boxes all over the place and mash up the elections?
I hope that wasn’t the original intent of the law and that we are not still upholding this cheap view of the Grenadian people.