Dominica to begin issuing Voter ID Cards before end of July

Dominica: Prime Minister Dr. Roosevelt Skerrit has announced that voter identification cards will begin to be issued before the end of July. Speaking during a press conference, he said the rollout marks another important milestone in strengthening Dominica's electoral system.

The Dominica Labour Party has been actively encouraging the citizens of Dominica to participate in the voter confirmation process since it started in September last year.

“Protecting our democracy is a shared responsibility,” Dr. Skerrit said, referring to the confirmation process. “I encourage every political party, civic organisation and community group to do the same,” he added further.

Recently, some people raised concerns about the voters list, saying that the list should match the estimated voting age population. But, PM Skerrit said that this argument misunderstands the role of the Electoral Commission.

The Commission is responsible for providing every citizen a lawful and accessible opportunity to get registered as a voter. However, citizens are not legally required to confirm their registration.

The Commission's responsibility is to provide every eligible citizen with a lawful and accessible opportunity to register and confirm the registration. It cannot compel anyone to do so under law or otherwise in every democracy. Some eligible citizens choose not to register immediately, he said.

Dr. Skerrit further explained that some citizens choose not to register immediately, while some delay registration for years. Additionally, people living abroad may decide not to participate in the election process because of their inability to travel back to the country.

He said that these are the citizens’ personal choices and there is no constitutional or legal obligation to register. Therefore, considering these variations, there is no constitutional requirement that the final register must equal, or even closely match the estimated number of eligible voters.

Similarly, the suggestion that the Commission is required to achieve a particular number of registered voters before the end of the process is not supported by the constitution.

Dr. Skerrit explained that the legislation has established clear legal procedures for the registration, confirmation, and the publication of the register. But, it does not establish any required target that should be achieved by the Commission.

Hence, the legitimacy of the register should be judged by whether the names recorded are legally entitled to vote. It should not be judged by whether all the eligible citizens have confirmed their registration or not.

Dr. Skerrit added that the right to vote also gives the citizens’ the choice of getting registered and they can choose otherwise.

Before moving forward to the next topic of interest in the press conference, PM Skerrit urged the eligible Dominicans who have not completed the registration process to do so without any further delays.

And I believe that is a duty and a responsibility of every one of us to do any other actions that we, as citizens would take would not be in the furtherance of democracy in our country, because these reforms were introduced to strengthen our democracy by ensuring that every eligible citizen is properly registered and able to exercise the constitutional right to vote in Dominica, he said.