Symister sounds another call for changes to constituency boundaries in order to achieve voter parity in this ‘democracy’

As the year 2023 is just two weeks away from closing, another call
for changes to the constituency boundaries is being made by Leon
Chaku Symister, an attorney and a member of the Antigua and
Barbuda Boundaries Commission. 
 
Symister was making reference to the January 18 General Election in
which the opposition parties – the United Progressive Party (UPP)
and the Barbuda People’s Movement (BPM) – as well as independent
candidate Asot Michael accumulated more votes than the Antigua
Labour Party (ALP).

In spite of this, the ALP retained office, which, Symister says, is likely
to continue if there is no boundary reform.
 
Symister says this is a conversation that the political parties and the
people, in general, must have if they wish to have fairer elections and
a more equitable distribution of votes.
 
He says the Nation cannot continue with a situation in which there is
no equity or voter parity in the respective constituencies.
 

According to Symister, the situation of having a disproportionate
number of voters in one constituency or another came about
through an act of gerrymandering.

He claims the ruling administration saw it fit to reduce the size of
those constituencies in which its party was not very popular in
order to give its candidates an advantage in later polls.
 
However, he notes, the UPP undertook boundary reform during its
tenure.
 
Symister notes, though, that it is not merely the number of
registered voters on the books that is the determining factor in the
size of the constituency; rather, it is the number of people living in a
particular area.
 
The Boundaries Commission previously made recommendations for
some constituencies to be merged, including St. Peter and St.
Phillip’s North, and for St. John’s Rural East, which is a fairly large
constituency, to be split into two.
 
For various reasons, however, these recommendations were never
implemented