The United States government has been advised of Dominican citizens who have US citizenship and intend to participate in the 8 December 2014 general election, a representative of the Citizen’s Forum for Good Governance, Atherton Martin has revealed.
Martin disclosed on Tuesday, 18 November 2014 that he had obtained a list of persons in the Diaspora who will be “illegally participating” in the election and made that list available to the US government.
According to the Electoral Commission, a person who is registered remains registered and is eligible to vote unless his/her name is deleted from the register because he/she has died, an objection to his registration has been allowed, he has been absent from Dominica for a period exceeding five years or he has become disqualified for registration as an elector.
“We have the names of the organizers, we know what cities they are from, in the United States, in Canada, in the UK, we have their telephone numbers”.
Martin said letters were also sent to the US Department of State and the Homeland Security.
He noted that the list of names will also be sent directly to the US, Canada and UK authorities.
“We have started getting the list from the diaspora of persons who are organizing the illegal vote, some of these people are on welfare”.
“Some of these people are illegal immigrants in the United States and they are participating in an illegal activity and so we have their names,” Martin said.
While Martin accused the Dominica Labour Party of having a targeted list of constituencies, he only mentioned St Joseph.
He added that these individuals, whose names are on the list, are being contacted via telephone against participating in the election.
“We have to call their homes, call their families, email and WhatsApp and tell them what you are doing is illegal,” Martin said and added that these individuals could be in “serious violation of the Internal Revenue laws of the US”.
However, campaign manager for the DLP, Ambassador Dr. Vince Henderson said this is a clear attempt by Martin and the United Workers Party to intimidate Dominicans.
“Seeking to threaten Dominicans who are going to exercise their franchise to vote for a party of their choice, as far as I am aware is an offence under the House of Assembly Elections Act and that is what they are doing, people have a right to support a party of their choice,” he said.
In the 2005 and 2009 general elections, the UWP was unsuccessful in a court matter where it claimed that the DLP bribed voters with cash to come in and vote.
The DLP argued that it had only facilitated transportation for citizens who wished to return to the country to vote.
“The court has settled the matter on assisting people to get to a polling station where they are registered to vote. That has been settled, it is the law of the land and we are a country of laws and therefore people must be allowed to exercise their democratic right”.
“What Mr. Martin and the other UWP members are trying to do is to intimidate Dominicans and putting Dominicans at risk by contacting the United States government on this matter,” Dr. Henderson added.
He further stated that this is not a matter for the United States government as it is not illegal for any party to organize transportation for voters.
“This is not a matter for the United States government and they are trying to get the United States government involved in our domestic affairs by seeking to expose Dominicans who will be coming down to vote,” Dr Henderson said.
