The people of the island-constituency of Barbuda are voting in elections Wednesday (today) to fill five vacant seats on the Barbuda Council.
In one of the most consequential elections in recent times, both the Barbuda People’s Movement, which currently controls the Council, and the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party, which declined to participate in the last two previous Council elections, are fielding five candidates each.
At issue, is whether the ABLP, with its team of youth and experience, will be able to make any inroads into the BPM’s tight control of the Council. Both entities have divergent views on the way forward for Barbuda; the ABLP wants to bring development to Barbuda while the BLM has shown little appetite for any of the government’s developmental plans.
The five BPM candidates are; Nadia George, Wade Burton, Jacklin Frank, Melanie Beazer and Nico Anthonio. For the ABLP the candidates are Bonnietha John, Arthur Nibbs, Bernard Christian Mackiesha Desuza and Orlando Morris.
There are eleven seats on the Council with the representative and the Senator appointed by the Council as members. With the other four seats controlled by the BPM, it means that the party will still control the Council regardless of the outcome of the elections. However, any success recorded by the ABLP would signal a loosening of the BPM’s grasp of the Council.
ABEC has reported that there are 1,328 persons eligible to cast votes in the elections. Voting begins at 7:00 AM and concludes at 6:00 PM. There are five polling stations, all of which are located at the Holy Trinity School.
It added that the final round of training for Election Day Workers who will be in place for the 2025 Barbuda Council Elections, concluded Tuesday at the Holy Trinity Primary School.
During session, the workers were given additional information on the collection of data for the Gender Statistics Form. Additionally, they were given role play scenarios to further equip them with handling any situation that may arise as part of the process.
Each worker was officially sworn in and took the Oath of Secrecy in the presence of the Returning Officer, Lornamay Benjamin- Hughes.
