Caribbean News
When you vote & How you vote to stay safe while Voting
#TurksandCaicos, February 8, 2021 – The protocols to ensure safe voting environment on general election day were on Friday released and the Turks and Caicos Islands Elections Office informs the guidance had weigh-in by both political parties, at least one independent candidate and the Human Rights Commission.
Among the changes at polling places in this Covid-19 era, are extended hours for voting. The voting day begins now at 7am and will end around at 9pm.
On all islands, the first group of voters will be the vulnerable and other priority electors who are not in quarantine, isolation or positive for COVID.
Group one must turn out to vote between the hours of 7am and 9am. Group two votes from 9am to 6pm in Providencials and 9am to 4pm on the other islands and ensures there are seven to nine hours available to the majority of the electors; those who are not in quarantine or positive for COVID and who do not fall into the vulnerable category.
The final group is Group Three; these voters are positive for Covid-19 positive, in isolation or in quarantine and these individuals will vote from 4pm to 6pm on all islands outside of Provo.
On Providenciales, this Group Three will turn out for voting from 6pm to 9pm.
The protocols are also now revealed.
The Elections Supervisor in the national update explained that all voters are required to pre-screen.
To residents the rules say: If you are experiencing symptoms call the HOTLINE and be cognizant that you can vote but only within the period designated for you. You’re going to wash your hands before you vote. You’re going to wash your hands after any interaction at the polling site because hand washing stations will be set up… and you’re going to make your selections with a pencil which you will take with you once voting is done.
Physical distancing of six feet is enforced and so is the wearing of a face covering. Non-medical grade is actually recommended for non-Covid and non-Covid suspected electors.
The only time a face covering can be taken off is if the poll workers need identification verification. The process will be brief, therefore the face covering is to be immediately replaced.
Sanitizer will be on site but voters are encouraged to bring their own supply.
Poll workers will need to have their PPEs (Personal Protective Equipment) already supplied. The Elections Office listed: masks, face shields, gloves and gowns.
Training in properly donning these items is recommended.
Vulnerable voters should return home immediately after voting given the high rate of infection in TCI at the moment in nearly all islands.
The process for Covid-19 positive individuals and those in some sort of quarantine are understandably more stringent.
The regulations say this: First thing, you have to inform the Ministry of Health hotline and there will be instructions for voting; this needs to happen before you venture out. Once you do, you have to be dressed for the occasion. Disposable gown, gloves, face shield and a medical mask snuggly covering nose and mouth. The country is depending on these individuals to be patriotic by being responsible; which means go directly to the voting place; ensure there is only a driver and no one else in the vehicle.
Recommended is NO air conditioning, turn windows down and allow fresh air to flow through the ride. The Elector must practice all the protocols including a six feet minimum physical distancing.
For the voters, this time around there will be increased signage. A recommendation is for the Elections Office to increase the number of polling stations.
The Governor, His Excellency Nigel Dakin said in a separate report that, he has also asked the Elections Office to create a reserve list of election day workers; in the event of a shortage.
Poll workers have to follow strict protocols and capacity per site is capped at 30 percent.
General election day in the Turks and Caicos Islands is on Friday February 19, 2021.
By Deandrea Hamilton | Magnetic Media
October 14, 2025 – It’s being called political theatre — but for citizens, constitutional watchdogs, and democracy advocates across the Caribbean, it feels far more serious. Within a single week, two national parliaments — in Trinidad and Tobago and St. Kitts and Nevis — descended into turmoil as opposition members stormed out in protest, accusing their Speakers of bias, overreach, and abuse of parliamentary procedure.
For observers, the walkouts signal a deeper problem: erosion of trust in the very institutions meant to safeguard democracy. When Speakers are viewed as political enforcers instead of neutral referees, parliaments stop functioning as chambers of debate and start performing as stages for power and spectacle — with citizens left wondering who, if anyone, is still accountable.
October 6: St. Kitts Parliament Erupts
The first walkout erupted in Basseterre on October 6, 2025, when Dr. Timothy Harris, former Prime Minister and now Opposition Leader,
led his team out of the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly in a protest that stunned the chamber.
The flashpoint came as the Speaker moved to approve more than three years’ worth of unratified parliamentary minutes in one sitting — covering 27 meetings and three national budgets — without individual review or debate.
Dr. Harris called the move “a flagrant breach of the Constitution and parliamentary tradition,” warning that the practice undermines transparency and accountability. “No serious parliament can go years without approving a single set of minutes,” he said after exiting the chamber.
The Speaker defended the decision as administrative housekeeping, but critics were unconvinced, branding the move a “world record disgrace.” The opposition’s walkout triggered renewed calls for the Speaker’s resignation and sparked a wider public discussion about record-keeping, accountability, and respect for parliamentary norms in St. Kitts and Nevis.
October 10: Trinidad Opposition Follows Suit
Four days later, on October 10, 2025, the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) in Trinidad and Tobago staged its own walkout from the House of Representatives in Port of Spain.
The UNC accused the Speaker of partisan bias, claiming she had repeatedly blocked urgent questions, ignored points of order, and allowed government members to breach standing orders without consequence.
“The Speaker has failed in her duty to act impartially,” the Opposition declared in a statement. “Parliament is not the property of any political party or Presiding Officer.”
The dramatic exit was seen as a culmination of months of rising tension and frustration, with opposition MPs arguing that parliamentary rules were being selectively applied to silence dissenting voices.
Political analyst Dr. Marcia Ferdinand described the twin walkouts as “a warning sign that parliamentary democracy in the Caribbean is teetering on the edge of performative politics.”
“When chairs become political shields rather than constitutional referees,” she said, “democracy becomes theatre, not governance.”
A Pattern Emerging
While St. Kitts and Trinidad are very different political environments, both incidents point to the same regional fault line: the perception that Speakers — the guardians of parliamentary order — are no longer impartial.
In Westminster-style systems like those across the Caribbean, the Speaker’s authority depends not on power but on public confidence in fairness. Once that credibility erodes, parliamentary control collapses into confrontation.
Governance experts say the implications are serious: eroded trust between government and opposition, declining public confidence in state institutions, and growing voter cynicism that “rules” are flexible tools of political advantage.
Why It Matters
Parliamentary walkouts are not new in the Caribbean, but what makes these recent events different is their frequency and intensity — and
the regional echo they’ve created. Social media has amplified images of lawmakers storming out, with citizens from Barbados to Belize questioning whether the same erosion of decorum could be happening in their own legislatures.
Analysts warn that if this perception takes hold, it risks diminishing the moral authority of parliamentary democracy itself.
“Once opposition MPs believe the rules are rigged, and once citizens believe Parliament is just performance,” said one Caribbean governance researcher, “you’ve lost the most valuable currency in democracy — trust.”
Restoring Balance
Political reformers across the region are calling for tighter Standing Order enforcement, independent parliamentary service commissions, and training to strengthen Speaker neutrality. Civil society leaders say the public must also play its part by demanding transparency and refusing to normalize partisan manipulation of parliamentary procedure.
Whether these twin walkouts become catalysts for reform — or simply another episode of Caribbean political theatre — will depend on what happens next inside those chambers.
For now, democracy watchers agree on one thing: when opposition leaders feel the only way to be heard is to walk out, the entire democratic house — not just its Speaker — is in danger of collapse.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
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