‘You think our polling agents have death certificates with them?’ – Wade Mark
By Faith Edwards
OPPOSITION Senator Wade Mark is raising concerns about the integrity of the upcoming general elections, claiming that polling cards have been created for people who have been dead for decades.
During the United National Congress (UNC) press briefing Thursday, Mark said that he had received two poll cards addressed to people who reportedly died in a car accident 33 years ago. The poll cards, he said, were delivered by the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) to the former addresses of the deceased.
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“I got a call a short while ago out of Diego Martin North East, and polling cards are being distributed to others as well,” he said, noting that a preliminary inquiry suggested that some of these individuals were also deceased.
Mark questioned whether these dead individuals were being positioned to vote, drawing comparisons to the infamous claim that deceased citizens once voted under the Forbes Burnham administration in Guyana.
“Is the EBC going to allow dead people to vote like Forbes Burnham did in Guyana? Rigging the election, stealing the elections, and frustrating the will of the people of Trinidad and Tobago, is that the purpose of issuing all these poll cards of dead people?” he asked.
He expressed concerns that impersonators could vote using the names of the deceased, especially if presiding officers failed to request valid ID or verify the voters’ identities. He also alleged that some officials within the EBC may be complicit in such actions.
“You think our polling agents have death certificates with them?” Mark questioned. “Some presiding officers and returning officers are agents of the PNM and they are complicit in trying to rig and steal the general election.”
Mark claimed that this could result in votes being cast fraudulently, only for the legitimacy of those votes to be debated or challenged after the fact.
“We are very concerned,” he said. “We have lost confidence in the Elections and Boundaries Commission to hold free and fair elections in Trinidad and Tobago.”
Mark also called for an independent commission of enquiry to be established to investigate the EBC and its officials, citing alleged misconduct and misbehaviour in public office.
He accused the EBC of employing unsuitable returning and presiding officers who are “engaging in voter suppression and voter frustration to turn away people at the polling stations.”
“Why is the EBC seeking to steal the next general election on behalf of the PNM?” Mark asked. “Why are they doing it?”
