EBC: Voters' list out on March 20

JUST 48 hours after Prime Minister Stuart Young declared April 28 as election day, voters can now check their registration on a preliminary list due out on March 20.

Further, voters now have nine days to get their details onto the list, either as first-time voters or as residents at a new address such as in a different constituency than before.

All of this is as a result of two legal notices issued by President Christine Kangaloo on March 19 (under the Representation of the People Act.)

The first item (legal notice 100) is a declaration to approve the existing preliminary list to be used, as a starting point, for the upcoming election. It explains that under the act, the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) must update its voter list in each electoral district so as to publish an "annual list" on July 1 each year, to stay in force until June 30 of the year after.

The legal notice said, "the President may, by Order, declare any existing list of electors for an electoral district to be the preliminary list."

It also noted the list published on July 1, 2024, has since then been continuously updated.

The President has ordered "that the annual list of electors of July 1, 2024, as updated and existing as at March 18, 2025, be deemed the preliminary list of electors for the purposes of the electoral registration" for the electoral districts for which electoral registration starts on March 20 for the general election.

The second item (legal notice 99) was a proclamation that electoral registration be done in the country's 41 electoral districts or constituencies, some with new names.

Kangaloo declared, "I hereby fix the 20th day of March, 2025, as the date of the commencement of the said electoral registration."

Chief Election Officer Fern Narcis-Scope updated Newsday on the EBC's work on March 19.

"The process for conducting an election is set out in legislation, which tells the organisation exactly what is required.

"The writs were issued by the President yesterday, and therefore 41 persons have been appointed returning officers."

She said their names and the location of their offices will be published in the newspapers within days, for the benefit of voters.

"The notice of election, which we also have to statutorily produce, will be in the papers tomorrow (March 20)."

"Electoral registration begins tomorrow as well."

She said this will be advertised via newspapers, radio and television.

"That ends next week Friday, March 28, the period during which members of the public can update their registration.

"So if you have for example moved from one constituency to the next, or within a constituency, and you haven't let is know yet, you can come in during that period, so we can do a change of address for you."

People who are over 18 and have not yet registered can also visit the EBC to become part of the electorate, she said.

"That electoral registration period is an opportunity for people to update their registration status with us.

"We do have the registration look-up facility online, on our website . That is what one can use to check to see where one is registered and what polling division and what polling station you would be visiting."

She said it was possible that some polling stations might be changed, as the EBC had to verify the availability and suitability of these locations.

"We will be doing that over the next few days. If we need to change the registration look-up information, we will do so as expeditiously as possible.

"Ultimately when you get your poll card, which you will get after we complete electoral registration when we have created the revised list of electors – that is the list we use to produce the poll card – your poll card will ultimately tell you which constituency you are in, as well as the location of their polling station."

The poll card would include any new name of a constituency, she said.

"The boundaries report was passed in Parliament since December, so we would have updated our systems and databases and so on, so those changes in terms of boundaries are already reflected in any list of electors . . . The preliminary list of electors is coming out tomorrow (March 20)."

Narcis-Scope said 43,000 people responded to the EBC's ad last week for poll day staff, of whom 17,000 will be trained and hired.

"We are well on our way."

Of the annual creation of a preliminary list, she said the EBC began its house-to-house exercise to verify voter details held in its system about a year ago.

She said half of the 41 constituencies were completed, with about six still under way, totalling 26 or 27.

"Now we have to halt that work and focus on the election which has a process by law which we have to comply with."

She said the electoral registration period was now important for any voter to update their status.

"While we may not have had the opportunity to get to you at your place of abode, you can now come to us.

"We are open from tomorrow, over the weekend as well (Saturday and Sunday), for nine days culminating next week Friday."

Registration involves the EBC checking on both the old and new address of a voter, plus supporting documentation such as a utility bill, she said.

Asked about opposition calls for foreign election observers, she said the EBC was not officially responsible for that, although she viewed those individuals as her peers.

"We are happy to work with any observer team when they do come to TT."

She said she, commissioners and staff of the EBC have themselves served on observer missions. "We look forward to that review from any one of them that are eventually invited to TT."

Narcis-Scope said the EBC valued its relationships with its stakeholders in the election process, such as political parties, and seeks collaboration.

"The doors are always open at the EBC."