Elections Department Treating
It is important during this election time for Candidates and campaigners to avoid any treating activity that might breach section 70 of the Elections Ordinance which reads:
“(a) Every person who corruptly, by himself or by any other person, either before, during or after an election, directly or indirectly, gives or provides or pays, wholly or in part, the expenses of giving or providing any food, drink, entertainment, or provision to or for any person for the purpose of corruptly influencing that person or any other person, to vote or to refrain from voting at such election, or on account of such person or any other person having voted or refrained from voting at such election
(b) Every voter who corruptly accepts or takes any such food, drink, entertainment or provision”.
Every person who is guilty of treating under the Elections Ordinance shall on summary conviction be liable to a fine of $5,000 or to imprisonment for twelve months or to both.
Please avoid any activity that attracts the attention of treating and other provisions of the Elections Ordinance.
Please also be aware that complaints to the Elections Supervisor are being passed to the appropriate authorities and are subject to investigation.
Voter Educational Programme and Town Hall Meetings
The voting Educational Programme for Turks and Caicos Islands General Election 2016 was announced by the Supervisor of Elections Lister Dudley Lewis, on Thursday, 24th November, 2016.
“There is a new designed ballot paper for the All Island District Candidates and the color of the said ballot paper has been changed from green to purple. Each voter on polling day will receive two ballot papers when they enter the polling station on 15th December,” said Mr. Lewis.
“The first white ballot paper will list the names of candidates in alphabetical surname order for that single electoral district. The voter should mark a single X to the name of the candidate of his or her choice.
“The second purple ballot paper will list the All Island or ‘at large’ candidates for the entire Turks and Caicos Islands. The voter should mark an X next to the names of five candidates of his/her choice.
“To be clear, voters can mark for five or less than five candidates on the purple ballot paper, but if they mark six or more they will spoil their ballot paper and their vote for at large candidates will not be counted. However, if a ballot paper is spoil, the presiding officer will issue a new ballot paper.”
The voter educational programme will feature the following:
Town Hall meetings in Grand Turk, Salt Cay, South Caicos, North and Middle Caicos and Providenciales. These meetings will explain the voting process using a range of education materials.
The Venue and dates for Town Hall meeting are as follows:
South Caicos - 28th November, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. at South Caicos Community Center.
North/Middle Caicos - 29th November, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. at Kew Community Center.
Providenciales – 30th November and 1st December, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. at Gustarvus Lightbourne Sporting Center
Grand Turk - 6th December, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. at Ona Glinton Primary School Auditorium.
Voter education leaflets will be distributed through Government offices, District Commissioner offices, community Centers and shops.
Posters detailing the voting process will be published at the various polling stations.
On December 15th, polling day, Presiding Officers will also be available at each polling station to explain the voting process.
Any questions about voting should be directed to the Elections Office, Woodville Court Plaza, Grand Turk or call Tel: 946-2801, ext 2301 or ext 2302.
Former Cuban President Fidel Castro Dead at 90
Cuban President Raul Castro announced late Friday night that this his brother, former Cuban president Fidel Castro has died. It was announced on Cuban state media. He was 90.
"Today, November 25, at 10:29 p.m., the Commander in Chief of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro Ruz passed away," Raul Castro said in an address during the 11 o'clock news on Cuban TV. "In compliance with the expressed will of Companion Fidel, his remains will be cremated. In the early hours of Saturday 26, the funeral organizing committee will provide our people with detailed information on the organization of the posthumous Homage to the founder of the Cuban Revolution. Ever onward to victory!"
Castro -- whose rise as a revolutionary made him the face of socialist rebellion for more than half a century, and whose Soviet ties led to the Cuban missile crisis -- also rose to power as leader of a guerrilla army that overthrew Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959. He remained in office for almost 40 years, until health problems and intestinal surgery forced him to hand over control to his younger brother, Raul, in 2006. He officially resigned as president two years later.
His public appearances from then on were rare, but he was seen in the summer of 2010, looking frail, going on TV and addressing Parliament, warning about rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran. He also was photographed in March 2012 meeting with Pope Benedict XVI during the pontiff's visit to Cuba.
In April of 1961, just three months after President John F. Kennedy was inaugurated, Kennedy gave the go-ahead to a U.S.-sponsored force of about 1,300 Cuban exiles to land on Cuba's southern coast, known as the Bay of Pigs. Their mission was to overthrow Castro.
The invading forces had no chance against Cuban forces and the defeat proved to be a major embarrassment for the Kennedy administration. After the botched invasion, Castro consolidated his power. At the end of 1961, he declared Cuba to be a communist state with a Marxist-Leninist program.
In October 1962, the tension between Cuba and the United States reached a crisis point when Soviet missiles with nuclear warheads capable of reaching the United States were discovered in Cuba. A U.S.-imposed naval blockade led to several days of international anxiety, with growing fears of a nuclear war until the Soviet Union agreed to withdraw its missiles.
The Cuban missile crisis further hardened Castro's anti-U.S. stance. In 1964, Cuba remained the sole communist nation in the Western Hemisphere, surrounded by countries that imposed strict sanctions on the island state. But in the early 1990s, it started to suffer a severe economic decline triggered by the collapse of the Soviet Union.
To deal with the crisis, Castro was forced to move toward a more market-based economy. He still offered his people free education and health care, but Cubans were plagued by a housing crunch, a crumbling infrastructure and high unemployment. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans fled the regime, with many settling in Miami, Fla.
By the turn of the century, speculation was growing about Castro's health, and there were rumors he was near death when he fell off a stage after giving a speech at a rally in October 2004. But the real downward spiral began with the surgery for intestinal bleeding in July 2006, when he temporarily handed power to his brother, Raul.
In February 2008, he permanently resigned as president, and the Cuban National Assembly officially elected Raul Castro, who had been his brother's closest confidante for decades.
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Nominated Candidates For General Election 2016
The Turks and Caicos Islands Elections Department wishes to advise the general public that following on from the stipulated Nomination Day which was held on Friday November 18th, 2016, a total of 52 candidates have been nominated to stand for election.
This includes thirty one (31) candidates across the ten (10) Electoral Districts in the Turks and Caicos Islands and an additional twenty one (21) All Island District candidates.
Fifteen (15) candidates have each been nominated to stand for election on behalf of the People's Democratic Movement (PDM) and Progressive National Party (PNP); twelve (12) candidates on behalf of the Progressive Democratic Alliance and ten (10) Independent candidates.
Candidate Declaration Forms Published
The Supervisor of Elections Mr. Lister Dudley Lewis has published the Declarations Forms for Candidates who have put themselves forward for the General Elections schedule for December 15, 2016.
The 52 nominees including 7 independent Candidates were duly nominated on November 18, 2016 in accordance with the legal requirements and the list of nominees published.
The declarations submitted to the Supervisor of Elections has now been published and the list available for viewing on Government Website www.gov.tv.
Section 50(2) of the TCI Constitution require the Supervisor to publish Candidates declarations to allow public security.
The Constitution also makes provision for members of the public and the Attorney General to challenge any of the nominated Candidates regarding their eligibility within five (5) days of publication.
General Election 2016 - Registered Independent Candidates
In furtherance of its stautotury responsibilities under the Poltical Activities Ordinance as amended, the Integrity Commission, at a special meeting held on 9 November 2016, considered the applications by various individuals to be registered as Independent Condidates. The Commission was satisfied that none of the conditions for registration disqualification set out under section 67(A)(2) of the Ordinance, applied to any of the applicants. The Commission was also satisfied that each applicant met the conditions set out under section 67(AX6 &7) of the Ordinance, and accordingly granted the applications to be registered as Independent Candidates.
The Commission wishes therefore to inform the public that for the purposes of the 15 Decemb er, 2016 general election and section 4 of the Political Activities Ordinance as amended, Ten (10) individuals were, on 9 November 2016, duly registered as Independent Candidates, pursuant to section 67(A) of the Political Activities Ordinance. These individuals are:
1. Michael Eugene Misick -All Island- Reg. No. RIC001
2. McAllister Eugene Hanchell -ED 03- South Caicos- Reg. No. RIC002
3. James Hudson Parker -ED 10- Weeland- Reg. No. RIC003
4. Damian Wilson -All Island- Reg. No. RIC004
5. Clarence Wesley Selver-All Island- Reg. No. RICOOS
6. Jasmin Salisbury Walkin -All Island - Reg. No. RIC006
7. Sabrina Elizabeth Green - All Island - Reg. No. RIC007
8. Oscar Obrien Forbes - All Island- Reg. No. RIC008
9. Valarie Beatrice Jennings - ED 02- Grand Turk South and Salt Cay-Reg. No. RIC009
10. Courtney Mancur Missick -All Island - Reg. No. RIC010
The Commission has since notified the Supervisor of Elections and each of the registered independent candidates of their registrations.
The Commission also wishes to remind all the candidates (whether affiliated to a registered Party or are registered independent candidates) of their obligation under section 49(1XD of the Constitution, to file with the Commission, a notice of any contract (and interest therein) they may have with TCI Government by Nomination Day, namely November 18, 2016. For the avoidance of doubt, section 49(1X0, provides that no person will be qualified to be elected to the House of Assembly il on the date of his or her nomination for election, he or she " ... is a parQ to, or a partner in alirm or a director or manager of a company which kpa@ to any contract with the Government and has not, by that date, disclosed in a notice to the Integrity Commission the nature of such contract and his or her interest , or the interest of suchJirm or company, in it..."
Accordingly, a failure to notiff the Commission by the Nomination Day, will disqualifr a candidate from being elected a member of the House of Assembly.
PressZReleaseZ-ZRegisteredZIndependentZCandidates.pdf