Dominica's general election turnout "good" - officials

by Paul Charles
Caribbean Net News Dominica Correspondent

Thursday, May 5, 2005

ROSEAU, Dominica: Hours before the polls close in Dominica's general election, officials have reported a "good turnout" at the 21 constituencies.

Chief elections officer Merina Williams said voting had been at a steady pace with an expected average of 75 percent at the 249 polling stations.

The May 5 is being contested by 47 candidates representing the Dominica Labour Party (DLP) 19, the United Workers Party (UWP) 21, the Dominica Freedom Party (DFP) two, the Dominica Progressive Party (DPP) three and two independents.

Williams said the machinery was functioning smoothly despite claims by some voters that their names had disappeared from the master list.

The election official dismissed the charge, saying the voters failed to check the right polling station for their names.

"Reports that some persons were not finding their names on the voters' list are due to the fact that they are not looking in the right areas," she said.

Williams said some voters were "behaving maliciously" by spreading false information about the voting process.

"Some persons are just behaving maliciously and there are no major discrepancies in the voters' list," she said.

Political analysts rated the election as "too close to call", while the two main parties DLP and UWP have boasted of victory ahead of the results.

Police chief Matthias Lestrade urged supporters of the main political parties to respect the democratic rights of their opponents in what observers labelled as the most prolonged divisive campaign in the island's history.

"I expect persons to be excited over the results but I want persons to understand that they have to respect the other persons' franchise to vote for any party," he said.

The intensity and pockets of clashes by supporters has led to the top cop pleading for tolerance ahead of Thursday night's results.
"We must demonstrate to the outside world that we can conduct ourselves in a good way after the general election," he said.

The polls, which opened at 7:00am (East Caribbean Time), are scheduled to close at 5:00pm. There are 66,000 people registered to vote at 249 polling stations in 21 constituencies.

In the 2000 general election, the DLP with ten seats joined the DFP two seats to unseat the UWP who held office from 1995.

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