Dear Editor,
The application I made for early voting was approved and I did my best to arrive at an early time, but was not prepared for the amount of people I met at the Kendall G.L. Isaacs Gym. After a while I got discouraged because the line was not going anywhere and told the persons ahead of me to hold my spot, I wanted to take a couple of pictures. As I made my way to a spot in the front of the entrance, the Registrar General showed up and made his way inside. Shortly after the Commissioner of Police arrived and gave a short news conference; it seemed as if the Commissioner was very annoyed at what was transpiring. I made my way back to my spot in the line, and this is where the story begins.
There were four R.B.D.F. officers in front of me and four Registrar General staff members behind me. I did not think much of it at the time, but after a while conversation started and it seemed like I was the odd man out. The officers in front of me seemed to be “on the clock” as they were expected back on duty at a particular time and the Registrar General employees seemed to have a knowledge of what was going on that immediately told me that these were people who had been through a couple of Elections and all the past Referenda exercises. I thought it strange that they should be on this line with all of the chaos going around and in the Gymnasium. It seemed like some of the experienced persons had been “reassigned” and were not needed. I recalled earlier exercises where the Police and Defense force Officers were allowed to vote early so that they would be free to do their duty during the Election season; but these persons spent more than three hours on that line. An attempt was made to form a separate line for the many Officers of the different branches that were there, but even that was sabotaged when the officers in charge informed their fellow officers that they would have to go on the line like everybody else.
It took a while for me to process all that I was seeing and it all came to me earlier today when it was revealed that the present Registrar General was removed from his previous job, by his staff, petitioning to have him removed. How did he end up being appointed Registrar General? Obviously, Mr. Hall been promoted way past his competence; since his professional experience is in Land Surveying, but it also seemed like the experienced persons he needs to support his department have been sent somewhere else and the people all around him seem to be recent appointees who are still trying to find their way; as this recent early voting exercise has revealed. My son continues in his attempt to convert me to seeing a harsh reality, he says to me often, ”Dad, if you want to know the purpose of a thing, just check the result; even if it is intentional or not. We have to live with the result.” I am starting to see the wisdom in his words.
Whether, last Wednesday’s fiasco was planned or not, it may have achieved a result that was not intended. People are waking up to the dangers of unfettered use of political power exercised by those we elect to office. The fact that the persons in charge of the voting exercise are brushing everything off as just another day at the office is cause for concern. The added fact that the person in charge of the Registrar General has yet to make a statement should tell us something that we may not want to hear. This present administration does not see itself as accountable to the persons that employ them. Perhaps it is time to apply for an amendment to the Constitution that puts the Opposition in charge of Elections; that would really be true Democracy at work.
Sincerely,
Edward Hutcheson
May 4, 2017
