PM Browne’s boast of Antiguan workers transferring to Barbuda’s Voters List is being realized, Walker reports

It is eight days before the General Election, and more transfer activities appear to be taking place in Barbuda at this eleventh hour.

Last year, Prime Minister Gaston Browne stated that persons who live in Antigua but work on Barbuda would be registering to vote on the sister island.  And it is alleged that his plans are now coming to fruition.

Election-watchers say this is a form of voter padding, aimed at giving the Antigua Labour Party candidate an unfair advantage in the January 18 polls.

Trevor Walker, leader of the Barbuda Peoples’ Movement (BPM) and its candidate on the sister-island, says it is very odd that persons are getting onto the voters list without it being published –

and without claims and objections having been heard.

Walker says he understands that this process is being undertaken without the Registration Officer in Barbuda having sight of the list.

Walker says that contact has been made with the Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Commission (ABEC), which confirmed that the transfers must be published.

Meanwhile, he describes the number of persons lined up to be transferred to the Barbuda register as a “carnival.”

The BPM Candidate says the Party is seeking legal advice on this situation, because a challenge will be mounted in the courts.

But in the meantime, he says that everything will be done to rally the voters on Barbuda to ensure the BPM’s success at the polls.