The 9 November elections in the Turks and Caicos Islands were an important step in returning to democratically
elected government. The voters had a genuine choice from amongst candidates. The process was transparent, accountable and the results reflect the will of the people.
The observer mission was impressed by the clear commitment to the democratic process shown by the citizens of Turks and Caicos, their level of participation in the elections and the manner in which voters conducted themselves notwithstanding the long lines requiring them to wait many hours to exercise their right to vote.
– I want to add a warm message of congratulation to the citizens and point out that in my 40 years in public life, I have yet to see an equal level of commitment to participating in the parliamentary electoral process – said the Head of Mission Hon. Joe Bossano MP (Gibraltar).
Voting took place in an orderly manner despite organisational shortcomings.
During the course of voting, observers visited all 17 polling stations (some of them several times) and evaluated the process as good or very good in the majority of cases. There were examples of polling stations where the process was very well organised. No one was observed voting more than once, and no incidents were noted of anyone trying to inappropriately influence voters who to vote for.
Procedural steps were generally followed – voters’ fingers were inked and identification documents checked in nearly all cases. Notwithstanding efforts and professionalism of election officials, time-consuming voting procedures resulted in long lines in most polling stations visited.
The counting of votes was conducted in a largely transparent manner in presence of candidates, party agents and observers. While there was a degree of variation of counting procedures adopted by election officials, votes were counted accurately and results reported without delays.
The announcement of preliminary results of all-country votes led to one of the candidates requesting the recount, as was his right. This inevitably delayed the process before the elected parliament can begin in effect.
This statement is released before the tabulation and announcement of results as well as the complaints and appeals process. The observation of the elections have been done in a spirit of constructive criticism looking at areas that might in future be organized differently and specifically fewer, shorter lines and delays. The preliminary report with key recommendations will be issued after the recount of
votes and it will be followed by a final report that will go into greater detail and will include more recommendations for possible improvements in the electoral process.
