NNP ACCUSED OF "ILLEGALLY" REGISTERING VOTERS IN THE U.S

St. George, February 26, 2008 -- The main opposition National Democratic Congress is demanding a halt to certain New National Party activities related to registration of voters for election and the use of state resources.

Senator George Prime, Deputy Leader of the NDC, told the Senate at a sitting last week that the opposition had received reports that supporters of the ruling NNP have been registering in New York to vote in Grenada's upcoming general elections.

The opposition claims that photographs of the would-be NNP voters are taken in New York and sent to Grenada, where their names are entered on the Voters' List.  They are also issued voter identification cards, which are returned to the persons living in the U.S.

Prime's allegations in the Senate were repeated by NDC Public Relations Officer, MP Nazim Burke, in an interview following a community meeting in his constituency.

Burke said nationals desirous of registering for election must do so in one of the constituencies of Grenada, Carriacou and Petit Martinique.

"We have some very serious concerns about reports we have received from the United States that persons, who are residing in the U.S. and have been living continuously there for several years, are being registered to vote in America and are being entered on the Voters' List in Grenada and given voter identification cards,'' said Burke.

"This is absolutely illegal and it is unacceptable,'' added the NDC official, who is Member of Parliament for St. George North-East.  "We don't know about the certainty of these reports but what we want to do is call upon the Supervisor of Elections to thoroughly investigate these allegations.''

Burke said if people are registering in the U.S. to vote in the Grenada poll, "it will severely compromise the integrity of the Voters' List and will throw the entire electoral process into serious doubt.''

A date for general elections has not yet been announced, but most observers believe it is not too far away.

Over the past few months, NDC members have made public their determination to have a clean and up-to-date Voters' List, comprising the names of only legitimate voters.  The aim, said Burke, is to remove any possibility of electoral fraud.

"That is why we have written to the Carter Center.  We have written to the Commonwealth Secretariat, we have written to the Organisation of American States, and expressed all of our concerns,'' Burke said.

The NDC, said Burke, also disapproves of the Keith Mitchell administration using the resources of the state to support NNP-related activities.

The NNP seems unable to appreciate the difference between the party and the state, and that there shouldn't be any "co-mingling of the resources'' of the two entities, said Burke.

"What seems to be happening is that large quantities of state resources appear to be used on a consistent basis to promote and project the New National Party,'' Burke said.

"In other words, activities that really are party activities are being funded by the state and through the state.  For example, take the Prime Minister's Touching Base and his meetings with his caretakers in different constituencies.  These meeting are being advertised using state resources, using the Government Information Service, using vehicles owned by the GIS to promote these activities, even though these activities are clearly party political activities.''

Burke also accused the NNP of using the Grenada High Commission in London to disseminate party information to Grenadians in the United Kingdom and other countries.

"Again this is not a state function,'' Burke argued.  "The state ought not to be promoting and projecting a particular political party.  The NNP must realize that government resources are government resources and ought not to be used for party purposes.''