Government Administrator and Parliamentary Registration Returning Officer in North Abaco Charles King said his office is putting the final touches in place as that island prepares for the heated upcoming bye-election.
For the second time in about five months the North Abaco Constituency will again hold an election to elect a Member of Parliament to represent its constituents.
For weeks the three candidates have been on that island in full campaign mode and now parliamentary registration officers there are once again working to make it all come together.
Mr. King said in just less than two weeks his work will be put to the test yet again, but he said as far he can see all systems are ready to go.
“What we have already done is to visit all of the polling stations,” he said. “We have ensured that all of our election booths are ready and we have begun training since (last Thursday).
“We will be training all of the poll workers, all of the residing officers and all of their assistants, and we will also be training the clerical workers who work along with them. Once we have done that I think we would be ready for this election.”
Mr. King says just over 4,000 North Abaco residents are registered to vote in the highly anticipated race.
He added that Parliamentary Registration Department will ensure the ballot papers are printed to ensure that the people who have been nominated received the proper symbols.
After 35 years of serving as North Abaco MP, former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham resigned from Parliament leaving the Free National Movement’s (FNM) Greg Gomez, the Progressive Liberal Party’s (PLP) Renardo Curry and the Bahamas Constitution Party’s (BCP) Servant Leader Ali McIntosh to fight for the spot.
“It’s a process,” he added. “We have gone through this on numerous occasions and our people are pretty good as far as conduct of the election.
“There are many public officers, teachers and others who are capable of being trained and who are able to carry out their duties in an efficient way.”
Mr. King said his office is making sure that all the necessary provisions are made and he predicts a smooth North Abaco bye-election come October 15.
