The Electoral and Boundaries Commission in Barbados on Monday said that just over 266, 000 people are eligible to cast ballots in Wednesday’s general election that Prime Minister Mia Mottley has called 18 months ahead of the constitutional deadline.
“I can now tell you that 266,330 persons are registered to vote. The register for elections has been printed and distributed to all political parties and independent candidates and the election officers are collecting the last of their equipment and supplies as we speak,” EBC chairman, Leslie Haynes told a news conference, adding “I can say to you all that the EBC is ready for general elections on January 19, 2022”.
In the last general election, there was a turnout of 60 per cent with 255, 833 people eligible to vote.
A total of 108 candidates, representing seven political parties and nine independents are contesting the poll that political observers say will be a straight fight between the ruling Barbados Labour Party (BLP) and the Democratic Labour Party (DLP).
In the 2018 general elections, Mottley created history when she led the BLP to a clean sweep of all the 30 seats in the Parliament, defeating the then DLP administration of Freundel Stuart.
Barbados becomes the latest Caribbean country to be staging a general election during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic following countries like St. Kitts-Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Bahamas, St. Lucia, Cayman Islands and our very own Turks and Caicos Islands.
Soource-CMC
