Few young voters at Cunupia polling stations

There was a slow but steady trickle of voters at polling stations in Cunupia for the local government by-elections on Monday.

Newsday visited the Jerningham Secondary School, Ince Drive, Cunupia , where most voters from 7 am-10 am were retirees.

Speaking with Newsday, one polling agent said most of the voters were people in their "fifties and sixties," with few young voters in between.

Newsday spoke to one voter, Ramnarine Ramsammy, 80, who said she has been voting for a "long time" and was pleased with how smooth the process was.

"There weren't any delays or anything when I went in. It was in and out.

"I'm happy to be here to vote. I've been voting for a long time now and I can't remember all of the times and the different people I would have voted for, but I'm happy for the opportunity."

Newsday also spoke to first-time voter Nazim Mohammed, who said there were no hiccups in the voting process for him.

Mohammed, 58, uses a wheelchair and relatives helped him enter the school.

"It was a cool process and I enjoyed it."

Another voter, who asked not to be named, said she was a retired public servant and always made time to vote in general and local government elections.

"It's something I take very seriously, being able to decide who is in charge, and exercise my democratic right.

"The procedure itself was uneventful. I might have spent about five minutes in all before I came back out."

Newsday spoke to UNC candidate for Cunupia Richard Sukdeo, who said he also noted a generally older voting population while visiting the school, but said he believed more younger voters would make time to vote later on in the afternoon.

"We realised a lot of people are home with their children supervising them for the online classes and some others may be at work, so we've made calls to some of our supporters to find out where they were.

"We anticipate there will be a bigger push later on in the afternoon period, when people get some more time. The turnout is slow but sure."

Newsday also spoke to PNM candidate Rasheed "Patos" Ali, who said he saw a more mixed group of voters when he visited the polling stations.