Alexander: EBC must beef up communications

Phillip Edward Alexander thanked Police Commissioner Gary Griffith and the police corporate communications unit for getting involved quickly and debunking a social media post which said he was not an election candidate.

Alexander is the leader of the Progressive Empowerment Party (PEP) and was its candidate for Diego Martin North/East.

Alexander said the matter had been resolved when he spoke with the media after voting at the Diego Martin Government Primary School.

But, he said, not only had the Election and Boundaries Commission (EBC) had made a glaring error which would raise a lot of questions about the commission’s management, but it would also have to check its oversight systems.

The EBC put out an ad on Saturday listing candidates, agents and subagents for the election. Alexander's name, however, was left out. This was then used to create the fake social media post, he said.

Alexander said this had happened to quite a few candidates.

“I know the chairman of our party, Felicia Holder, is in touch with attorneys who were going to write the EBC, so I don’t have much more to say on that at this point.”

He said the intent was to prevent something like this happening in the future.

The commission issued a release on Monday saying Alexander had reported to it that he had become became aware that people from another party were trying to influence electors not to vote for him.

It said, “A false document issued on social media last evening bearing the logo of the EBC reportedly stated that Phillip Edward Alexander is not a candidate in the 2020 Parliamentary Elections. This document, which went viral on social media is false, as Alexander’s candidacy is valid as the representative for the PEP for the Diego Martin North/East constituency.,”

Alexander said the EBC needed to be a little more responsive in its communications to the media, because the matter had already dealt with and debunked on social media by the time the EBC put out a response on Monday morning.

“Something as important as an election, their corporate communication unit should have been going round the clock last night to deal with issues like this.”

But he said the party was not going to make too much of a fuss about it, although it caused "a lot of stress" on Sunday night.

He said he got through quite easily with the voting process, officials working at the Diego Martin polling station were working hard to keep people flowing, and the turnout was very good.