Mission to oversee Sept. 7 vote

By Dana Niland
CJ Contributor

CARICOM has announced it will mount an Electoral Observer Mission to monitor the general elections to be held in Trinidad and Tobago on September 7.

The Chief of Mission is Orrette Fisher, Director of Elections of the Electoral Commission of Jamaica, while Josephine Tamai, Chief Elections Officer for the Department of Elections and Boundaries of Belize, will act as Deputy Chief of Mission.

Fisher and Tamai will be joined in the Mission by other experts in Electoral Management and Administration from Barbados, The Bahamas, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Suriname.

A two-member CARICOM Secretariat team will also aid in the observation activities, in support of the organization’s wider policy of supporting democratic traditions throughout member countries.

The Mission members began arriving in Trinidad and Tobago yesterday, and will soon meet with the twin-island republic’s electoral officials, leaders of political parties, and other stakeholders.

On election day, the Mission will monitor the elector process including the opening of the poll, the voting process, the closing of the poll, and the counting of the ballots.