by Linda Straker
- Registration officers appointed for St David, St George NE, and Carriacou
- Names differ between 20 January and 14 April 2023 editions of Government Gazette
- Governor-General is responsible for appointing and revoking registration officers
Changes have been made to registration officers in 3 of the 15 Parliamentary Election Office (PEO) sub-offices. The PEO’s mission is to continuously register all eligible persons to vote, produce voter identification cards, publish the list of electors, and conduct elections following the People’s Representation Act.
The individuals contracted as the registration officer for St George’s North East, St David, Carriacou and Petite Martinique were not the same as those published in the 20 January edition of the Government Gazette. The PEO did not announce a news release nor through the Government Information Service (GIS); however, a review of published notices in the Government Gazette during January and April 2023 showed the changes.
In the 20 January 2023 edition of the Government Gazette the Notice of “CONSOLIDATED LIST OF ELECTORS AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2022,” showed David Morain as the Registration Officer for St David, Barbara Charles for St George North East, and Geraldine Guy for Carriacou and Petite Martinique. However, in the 14 April 2023 edition, a notice from the PEO labelled “ADDENDUM TO LIST OF ELECTORS AS AT 31 MARCH 2023” showed the new registration officer for St David as Peter Regis, Margaret Belfon for St George North East, and Amanda Jack for Carriacou and Petite Martinique.
The PEO falls under the jurisdiction of Governor-General Dame Cécile La Grenade, who is the authority responsible for appointing and revoking registration officers to the position. It is unclear if the former registration officers’ appointments were revoked or the contractual arrangement period expired and they opted not to be reappointed.
The Governor-General changed registration officers in 2017. This was strongly condemned by the then main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), which claimed it was to rig the 2018 General Election.