Voters frustrated in St Peter

Extremely long wait times at some polling stations in St Peter left many voters upset about the difficulty they faced in exercising their franchise.

Several of them also expressed concern that the delays would deter others from participating, potentially affecting the eventual outcome.

There was particular frustration among voters at the Alexandra School where, in some cases, constituents waited more than two hours to mark their ballots.

Robert Beckles, who arrived at the polling station just before 6:30 a.m. but did not vote until 9 a.m., told Barbados TODAY: “It was very, very, very, very slow. I can understand the COVID thing, but to cast a vote you shouldn’t have to take so long.”

“They know that there’s COVID, they should have it spread out a lot better with the officials so that they can accommodate people at a six-foot distance and speed up the process. There are people who are sick, people with high blood pressure, diabetes, heart problems, all kinds of things, so you should have facilities that people, especially the old people, can get through. This is 2022 and Barbados has to get with the process,” he added.

An official at the counting station explained that in addition to protocols like sanitising hands and taking temperatures, the voting booth was sanitised after each person entered.

Elderly voters were also expedited when they arrived at the polling stations, which caused a longer wait for others in line.

The polling station was separated into two sections – for voters with last name A-G and those H-Z.

“We were there from just after 6 o’clock and now it’s 9 o’clock,” Dianna Best complained.

“Something needs to be done with the system where it can be speeded up, because one half is getting through so fast and the next half isn’t. It’s just frustrating waiting so long. I have never had to wait so long before to vote. I only stayed because it is my democratic right and I am determined to vote.”

Another voter, Karen Broomes, described the situation as “ridiculous”.

“If it continues like this, I feel we are going to lose some votes because I know Bajans. They are not standing up out here, they are not doing this. It’s ridiculous,” she lamented.

“My sister has a 10 o’clock appointment and she is hoping she can get in there before because she doesn’t know if she’s going to come back when she’s done with her appointment. All of that will be problematic.” (KS)