The Structure of The Bahamas Electoral Body The Bahamas is a Constitutional Monarchy with a Governor General and a bicameral parliamentary system. The lower House is made up of single member constituencies, the members of which are elected by universal adult suffrage, using the first past the post system. The Upper House is an appointed Body. The Election Management Body in the Bahamas is called the Parliamentary Registration Department. This is a Department of the Central Government and comes under the oversight of a Cabinet Minister. The Parliamentary Commissioner heads the Department. Unlike other department heads The Parliamentary Commissioner is a constitutionally appointed officer. The terms of his appointment and service are set out in the Constitution and the election laws. The Constitution states that (i) There shall be a Parliamentary Commissioner whose office shall be a public office. (iv) He shall be appointed by the Governor-General acting on the recommendation of the Prime Minister after consultation with the leader of the opposition, by Instrument under the Public Seal. He shall hold office until he attains the age of sixty-five (65) years; but there is provision for the extension of the age limit to sixty- eight (68) years. The Parliamentary Commissioner may only be removed from office for inability to discharge his functions, or, for misbehavior, following a recommendation to the Governor-General by a Tribunal specially appointed to review his behavior. Duties of the Parliamentary Commissioner 1) The Parliamentary Commissioner shall have general responsibility for and shall supervise the registration of elections for the election of members to the House of Assembly and the conduct of elections for such members and shall have powers and such other functions relating to such registration and such elections as may be prescribed. 2) The other prescribed duties are outlined in the Parliamentary Elections Act and the Local Government Act. 3) The Parliamentary Commissioner maintains the electoral register. This means that he must see to it that there is always a register in readiness
should an election be called. The Act says that a register of voters shall be prepared and shall thereafter be revised and amended from day to day, in accordance with stipulations that are outlined. 4) The register in being in the Bahamas has a life of five years. This means that a new register is prepared every five years. Not only is a register prepare, electoral boundaries are also changed/adjusted every five years. 5) The Parliamentary Commissioner also organizes and conducts Local Government Elections. These elections are held every three years. In these elections Local Government Town Committees and District Councillors are elected in the various Family Island Districts in the Bahamas. Structure of Department It is the duty of the Parliamentary Commissioner to structure his office in such a way that it can carry out its various functions effectively. Geographically the Bahamas is a large country, with over one hundred thousand square miles of land and sea. There are many islands with varying population sizes. The Department must be staffed and organized in such a way that it can effectively carry out its mandate. Staffing: The Act states that in the performance of his duties the Parliamentary Commissioner shall be assisted by such number of Deputy Parliamentary Commissioners and other officers of the Department as the Governor General, acting in accordance with the advice of the Public Service Commission, may appoint from time to time. This in effect means that the Parliamentary Commissioner must develop an operational structure and identify persons to perform particular tasks. These officers appointed are public officers, so understandably they are drawn from the general pool of public officers. The selection and training of staff is key to maintaining a healthy electoral system because, in all circumstances the conduct of an election must be accomplished effectively and impartially. The quality and training of the staff can have a profound impact on the conduct of voter registration and the elections. The staff complement in the Department varies depending on the task at hand. When a voter registration drive or an election is approaching the staff numbers will increase. After these events the numbers fall. This places a particular burden on the Department because there is always the need to ensure that persons deployed are specially prepared for the tasks they have to perform. The Parliamentary Commissioner makes recommendations for the selection of persons he wishes to have deployed into the Department. This situation becomes particularly acute when selecting persons to work in the two major population centers of Nassau and Freeport. 2
The national office is based in Nassau and that office is responsible for the overall structural setup of the Department. In that office you will find the Administrative base and the Computer Centre. That office would also be responsible for dealings with Political Parties, the Media, non governmental organizations, interest groups and international organizations. The Freeport office is a regional office. It works in conjunction with the National office in carrying out the national objectives. In the other islands the Parliamentary Commissioner works through the various Family Island Administrators Offices. Through these offices he is able to reach all sectors of the country and can organize and control voter registration and elections. Once staff has been identified and deployed then begins the task of training. This has to be on two levels. Firstly, personnel must understand the nature of the work they are involved in and secondly they have to be fully conversant with the duties they are expected to perform. The Parliamentary Commissioner therefore has to have a proper training programme in place and that programme has to be presented carefully and deliberately. Persons must come to understand that they are servants of the people and as such there must be no semblance of partisanship in their attitude or behavior. The Department is accountable to the entire electorate within the laws and must act accordingly. Their conduct must be transparent and open to scrutiny and they must always work to lift the standards of the Department and to protect the integrity of the System. The training of staff must be relevant to the roles they will have to play. Revising officers for example, must thoroughly understand the requirements for voter registration. Applicants for registration must be able to prove that they are citizens of the Bahamas and must be able to describe exactly where they live because people can only vote in the area where they reside. Persons performing the roles of Returning Officers and Presiding Officers at an election must fully understand their duties and must comply with all the relevant provisions of the law. Interaction with Political Parties: The Parliamentary Elections Act does not set out any particular regulations regarding the establishing of political parties or what type of relationship should exist between the Election Management Body and the parties. For a long time in the history of the Country, there were no political parties. All candidates offering themselves for elective office did so as independents. After elections elected persons would work together, depending on individual interests, to make decisions for the Country. Political Parties came on the scene in the 1950s and since that time they have become entrenched in the Political System. 3
Today there are two (2) major Political Parties and a number of smaller parties. The two major parties normally contest all Parliamentary seats and it is almost a given that at the end of the day one of then will form the Government of the Country. Needless to say, they are very much concerned about what happens in the Department - and are in constant contact. The Department understands that the political parties play an integral part in our political system. They are important and special stakeholders and they play a vital role in authenticating and legitimizing the electoral process and are free to offer ideas and suggestions. During the period leading up to the 2007 General Elections, meetings were convened between the Parliamentary Commissioner and the Chairpersons of the various Political Parties. The major purposes of the meetings were to ensure that - (i) there was an open avenue of communication; to provide update on what the Department was doing regarding voter registration and preparation for elections; and to hear their views and get input on what they thought should be happening. The participants appreciated the holding of the meetings and suggested that the communication should continue. The interaction is ongoing. Having open communications provide benefits for all concerned. The parties use voter registration information to direct their campaigns and to get out the vote. It also helps the Department by assisting in verifying the accuracy of the register. The Political Parties through their efforts can: (i) Ensure that the name of every person who is registered appears on the list; Help to guarantee the accuracy of the information on the list; (iv) Discover persons who may be ineligible but whose names may be on the list; Encourage eligible persons to register if they had not already done so; and 4
(v) Inform people where they can go to be registered and to vote. The voter registration process in the Bahamas is quite open. The list of person added to the register are always available to all political groups or interested individuals. Names are added on a daily basis and challenges can be raised against names that should not appear on the register. If such challenges are raised, the person challenged must show reasons why his name should not be moved as well as the challenger must defend his challenge. At the time of election, all parties have access to the polling stations. They monitor the process from start to finish, they know how many ballots are received, how many are used, or unused and they monitor the count. After the count, they accompany the boxes to the places where they are stored. They may also get certified copies of the count from each polling station. Needless to say the political parties have an input in the drawing of all political boundaries and the enactment of electoral laws. During the process of registration and elections all the Parties desire is equality and fair play in the application of the laws. The Parliamentary Registration Department recognizes that as the custodian of the Bahamian Democratic System, it must retain the confidence of its public so it works hard to maintain the confidence of all parties and stakeholder in the electoral System and to deliver good elections. 5