Member of the Board of Governors of the Dominica Business Forum (DBF) Inc. and president of the Builders and Contractors Association of Dominica, Anthony Le Blanc, has called for a house-to-house re verification exercise for the cleansing of the voters list in Dominica.
Leblanc, who is also the former chairman of the Electoral Reform group, made this recommendation during a virtual consultation on the review of Dominica’s electoral legislation with expert Jurist Sir Dennis Bryon on June 17th 2021.
“A house-to-house re verification exercise across the entire Island [is] the most efficient way of cleaning the list and re-assigning voters to their respective polling station and an effective way of issuing Voter ID,” he said.
Le Blanc also suggested a ‘registration reform’ because according to him, there appears to be issues with verifying identities of new voters before the last general election.
He stated, “[There is a] need for ID cards in the registration process itself. Currently, there is no means of cross-checking that a particular person is not registered in another constituency – eliminating multiple registrations.”
The DBF Governor further recommended that an amendment should be made either to the existing Regulations if possible, or to the parent relevant laws, that persons who do not present themselves to vote in two consecutive general elections, over a period of not less than five (5) years, shall be removed from the list of eligible voters.
He explained that this process can work by having the electoral commission examine the data on the past two consecutive general elections and write to every registered voter at their registered address, requesting that the voter confirms that he still resides at the registered address.
“The onus will be on the registered elector to respond to the Electoral Commission,” Leblanc continued.
He said the register should state whether he or she still resides in the registered address or indicate whether that elector has moved to either another polling district or out of state and the time when that was done.
“If the registered elector does not respond, then the Electoral Office shall then remove that name from the list of registered electors,” Leblanc suggested.
He said this amendment would nullify the vexing provision of having to verify that non-resident registered Dominicans have returned to the State within the last 5 years and therefore are still eligible to remain on the electors list and to vote.
He also proposed that on polling day, different voting protocols should be conducted for “safeguarding the integrity of the secret ballot.” These include prohibiting all recording devices in voting booths – phones, etc. and prohibiting the identification (calling out) of the ballot number against a voter’s name.
Pre-election monitoring and an election post-mortem to drive continuous electoral reform was also recommended.
The biggest kix is the decoration in the back. I wonder who is their interior designer.
Why is it that some people take it upon themselves to be an authority of a cause or a movement. Anthony Leblanc like all citizens of Dominica has a right to express his opinions and feedback regarding the electoral reform process taking place, but prejudices, Political partisan politics, and perceptions of what he thinks should not be part of the process. He does not speak for Dominicans, nether The Association he represents nor The political Movement he belongs to. He is no expert on Constitutional Law as it applies to the Electoral Act, which governs the election process.
A high percentage of the problem we are facing today regarding electoral reform is the result of chaos caused by misinformation, lack of understanding of the Constitution as it applies to the election process, Political infusion of partisan politics and those who want the voting process to be part of their agenda in the end the Dominican people will not be held hostage to a mischievous agenda of a select few.
@Gary
Here comes king liar Skerrit hypocritical acolyte again.. Trying to show that he is objective, when every bloggger on here has already questioned if he has any form of morals, scruples, ethics, principle, etc left in him. Gary i won’t guess what has you like Skerrits errand boy, but greediness must be a factor. You acted stupidly, by not even having an understsnding of what Leblanc was saying, but since i have exposed you so many times you acted like this petulant little child. Cry unethical Gary Cry!!
Why are you or your political master so opposed to EFFECTIVE electoral reform? Don’t come and tell me now that Skerrit has engaged that old lawyer from St. Kitts to solve the issue because he won’t. He will do what your boss tells him and guess what, that’s the end of EFFECTIVE electoral reform. Bottom line it’s very simple, cleanse the list thoroughly, ensure the elections are fair (no more treating), the members of the electoral committee need to be absolutely independent and not members of the DLP, introduce voting cards and the suggestions Mr. Leblanc made. We do not need Byrons interference. We don’t trust him. He is only here to create a smoke screen. Anyway, your comment confirms what you stand for: CORRUPTION!
so essentially you are saying that the wrongdoing based on misinformation, lack of knowledge of constitution, law, policy, basic ignorance and in some cases share malice that is happening now, that the majority of dominicans want it to continue? correct me if i am wrong. im quoting you below.
“A high percentage of the problem we are facing today regarding electoral reform is the result of chaos caused by misinformation, lack of understanding of the Constitution as it applies to the election process, Political infusion of partisan politics and those who want the voting process to be part of their agenda in the end the Dominican people will not be held hostage to a mischievous agenda of a select few.”
These people with their elitist attitudes will never get the support of the majority of Dominicans. He claims that the system of handing out contracts is so flawed, yet his company is currently under contract to build the geothermal well pad and access road. It would be interested for Mr. Leblanc to tell the public how he secured that contract in such a corrupt system. Did he pay bribes? Did he promise kickbacks? And he must tell us whether his attacks on the government are motivated by bitterness of not getting more government contracts. This constant grand standing and attention seeking in the media is annoying and pathetic and nothing this man says seem credible…
@Legion
Stop the personal attack, and stick to the topic. The fact staring you in your RED face is that from 2005 our elections have not been conducted fairly…You come on here like a sycophant of liar Skerrit, and not like one who stands for fairness. Are uou Gary by another name?. Stop being an accessory of evil. Your balderdash does not cut it. Dominica needs A TOTAL OVERHAUL to its voting process.
Mr Leblanc is 100% correct, although he did not cover all areas!!!
It is pathetic, why are you telling someone to stop the personal attacks, and stick to the topic, when you are not setting the example, you have never made a rational argument to any of the matters at hand, all you do is yap nonsensical partisan rhetoric and calling people names. When you read the above comment, did you see any name-calling. What is in this comment that is an accessory to evil, you must not just say things out of thin air, you must use reason and be rational, so long for your continuous silly antics.
@Legion
If you were writing an essay on the topic you would score 0%…You seem to be one of the greedies sucking Dominica dry, so you want everyone to praise King liar Skerrit.
I feel sorry for you, your poor adulator of a wicked soul..!
What’s important, a score or the truth as it is, is this what you cannot accept. Look, no one is asking you to praise Skerrit. Look at the person you adore and praise, it’s your choice to praise him adore him, calling people poor adulator of a wicked soul you know nothing about the person just shows weakness it is like a drug taken to wipe your inability to reason, a quick fix, so long.
I applaud any effort of cleansing the list.
The ladies of the APP also called for efforts to cleanse the list sometime last year.
They even offered to assist people with the cleaning the list in their areas.
Sadly there appeared to be little interest , including from the other political parties .
So i wish you Good Fortune.
Do we have any idea how much an national ID card system will cost?
And how much yearly to maintain ?