In addition, the OAS said the nature of some polling sites also presented “difficulties for access by the physically challenged and elderly.” *Photo credit: www.gwu.edu

WASHINGTON, CMC – The Organization of American States (OAS) says lessons learned from the constitutional reform process in St. Vincent and the Grenadines could be applicable to other countries in the region.

In its preliminary report on the November 25 referendum that the government loss, the OAS Observer Mission said there were “relatively few areas” in which the referendum could have been improved.

But it said the “unprecedented nature of this referendum process left a normative vacuum, which has still not been fully resolved”.

The OAS referred, in particular, to the question of “whether it was appropriate for the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines to utilise $4 million EC dollars (US$1.48 million) of state resources for its ‘Yes’ campaign, while the ‘No’ campaign remained privately funded.”

The government of Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves suffered a major setback after voters overwhelming rejected the new constitution in the historic referendum.

Figures released by the Elections Office showed that those opposed to the “home grown” constitution that the government had been pushing totalled 29,019 as against 22,493 in support.

The figures also indicated that the 55.6 per cent of the electorate sided with the New Opposition Democratic Party (NDP) that had called on voters to reject the proposed constitution that would have replaced the one handed down to the island when it gained political independence from Britain 30 years ago.

The Yes Vote campaign received 43.1 per cent of the votes cast.

In its report, the OAS Mission noted that the current voter’s list contains nearly 98,000, while the estimated population of St. Vincent and the Grenadines numbers 106,000.

“Electoral authorities, governmental officials and political party leaders acknowledge that the Voter’s List contains more names than it should,” the report said.

The OAS said while electoral workers were generally well-trained and the vote proceeded smoothly, it recommended that “greater uniformity and standardization of procedures across polling sites” be instituted.

“The Mission observed some variation in instructing voters.  Some presiding officers read the question on the ballot paper in full and explained the voting procedure, while others made more cursory remarks,” it said, adding there were also “small variations” in the way that different presiding officers and returning officers determined spoiled and rejected ballots.

But it said this variation “did not materially affect the outcome at any polling site.”

The OAS said in determining the validity of a marked ballot, the intention of the voter should prevail above any other consideration.

It said some polling sites contained multiple polling stations in relatively cramped areas, making conditions “crowded, especially in those areas which experienced heavy rains on Referendum Day.”

In addition, the OAS said the nature of some polling sites also presented “difficulties for access by the physically challenged and elderly.”

It is recommending “greater attention to the signage, location and layout of polling sites, for improved access by the physically challenged and elderly and ease of use by all voters.”

The OAS, however, lauded the work of the Supervisor of Elections, Sylvia Findlay Scrubb, and of the Electoral Office, “which effectively ran the referendum, and Minister Rene Baptise who had as part of her ministerial portfolio the organization of this first-of-a-kind electoral exercise.”

“Their experiences should serve as an important reference for similar efforts in the Caribbean and beyond,” the OAS said, noting that it was the first such referendum in the Eastern Caribbean and was “thus of considerable historical significance.”

In her report to the OAS, St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ Ambassador, La Celia Prince, said because of the government’s commitment to democracy, it “respects and stands by the decision and the will of the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines”.

Prince said the government was “proud that it had the courage and the leadership to attempt this seminal and noble effort in nation-building and enhancing democracy.

“Perhaps, in the future, the consciously enlightened will judge that the government was on the right side of history,” she said.