Special voting in PNM poll today

Minister in the Ministry of Legal Affairs Fitzgerald Hinds, Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus and Minister of Community Development, Culture and the Arts Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly at a PNM meeting in Malabar on August 19. Baptiste-Primus is an unchallenged candidate for labour relations officer in next Sunday's party elections. PHOTO BY AZLAN MOHAMMED
Minister in the Ministry of Legal Affairs Fitzgerald Hinds, Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus and Minister of Community Development, Culture and the Arts Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly at a PNM meeting in Malabar on August 19. Baptiste-Primus is an unchallenged candidate for labour relations officer in next Sunday's party elections. PHOTO BY AZLAN MOHAMMED

The final voters’ list for Sunday’s People’s National Movement (PNM) internal election should be completed by Thursday, chairman of the elections supervisory committee Murchison Brown said yesterday.

Brown told Sunday Newsday the list would be available in all of the 41 constituencies. Some 87,000 people are eligible to vote.

The elections supervisory committee is an independent body.

Reiterating all the necessary mechanisms have been implemented to ensure a smooth process, Brown, a former Port of Spain mayor, said everything was also in place for today’s special voting process.

Application forms for special voters to become special voters were available at Balisier House, Port of Spain.

Special voters include people who may be out of the country for next Sunday’s poll. Life members will also be among those eligible to be special voters.

Special voting will be done from 8 am to 6 pm at Balisier House and at the PNM’s Tobago Council office, uptown Scarborough.

Asked if he anticipated any challenges this week, ahead of the poll, Brown said: “Well, let’s say not at this point in time.”

Earlier this week, candidates opposed to political leader Dr Keith Rowley’s slate in the election had reportedly expressed some concerns about the availability of the voters’ list.

Eber Steele, who is challenging Irene Hinds for the post of operations officer, told Sunday Newsday he was concerned about the state of readiness of the official voters’ list as well as the list of special electors.

Asked if he had other concerns about the election process, Steele, who had unsuccessfully contested the 2014 internal election on the Pennelope Beckles-Robinson slate, said: “From where I stand, I, as an independent candidate, my main issue would have been the preliminary list and the subsequent final list.

“But that has been rectified yesterday (Friday). So, currently going forward I have not experienced any challenges or hiccups that are worth mentioning.”

Meanwhile, the campaign for Sunday’s poll is heating up as candidates try to woo voters through walkabouts and spot meetings. Five positions on the executive are to be contested unchallenged: Dr Keith Rowley (political leader); Camille Robinson-Regis (lady vice-chairman); Howard Chin Lee (treasurer); Jennifer Baptiste-Primus (labour relations officer) and Joycelyn Bodden (welfare officer).

Positions expected to be keenly contested include that of chairman, general secretary, elections officer and field officer.

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"Special voting in PNM poll today"

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