Deandrea Hamilton

Editor

Turks and Caicos, February 25, 2025 – To be clear, the Progressive National Party dominated the general elections of the Turks and Caicos Islands, securing the most seats, widening victory margins and solidifying its hold as the favorite choice among voters.

While some have penned that voter absenteeism coupled with ballots cast for other parties or candidates did expose who did not want to see a return of the Washington-Misick led administration, it remained clear that the incumbent government was better able to energize its base.

The PNP won 16 seats of the 19 offered, with voters turning out at 73% according to the official figures.

Election results in the Turks and Caicos, this year have come under special scrutiny. Watchers were keen to weigh in on how the performance and accuracy of the newly instituted electronic voting system – DS200 – and a possible repeat of a high rate of voter non participation would impact the outcome.

According to Statistics obtained from the Elections Office by Magnetic Media, nearly seven percent or 475 more women turned out to participate in the national vote which fell sharply by four percentage points.

In 2021 over 2,000 did not participate.  In this 2025 runoff, it grew to over 2,500 registered electors skipping the process.  It is the lowest voter turnout, on record, for the Turks and Caicos Islands despite the strong gains recorded for the winning party, the Progressive National Party.

It is reported that: 3,707 or 53.4% women and 3232 or 46.5% men turned up to cast a ballot.  Each person received one ballot with two sections for voting.  An area to vote for the constituency and another area to vote for the all-island contenders.

Voters turned out strongest when polls opened, with the 7-8 a.m. hour boasting the biggest bounce for the British overseas territory.  Statistics revealed that between 800-1000 people cast their ballots earliest in the day.  The 9,385 voters on the register had 12 hours to vote, with polls closing at 7 p.m.

Voting dropped off significantly around noon, but picked up again between 1-3 p.m., this despite many schools being closed to accommodate the Elections Office needs for polling stations and government’s closure of all offices on Election Day.

For many, they had the entire day to vote and with the new DS200 activated, the process was deemed easier and faster.

In the Turks and Caicos Islands, registered voters between the ages of 35 and 54 turned out in the most impressive numbers.  Those within this age span accounted for half of all the voters on February 7, which was roughly 3,000 people.

Least in the voter pool were younger electors. Statistics reveal there were around 300 from this sect.  Senior voters, over 75-years old, amounted to just under 400 people country-wide.

Almost 1,200 voters in the age range of 25-34 cast a ballot and just over 800 individuals between the ages of 65-74 participated in the general election in 2025.

The top performing constituencies in terms of how many voters were attracted to the polls on election day were: North and Middle Caicos, South Caicos and Grand Turk South & Salt Cay; respectively.  In these constituencies, there was no sweep for any party.

ED 4, North and Middle, also known as the Twin Islands where the race was between incumbent Arlington Musgrove (PNP) and Denaz Williams, (PDM), the voters turned out at 86.07% or 525 voters.  Musgrove would win this seat by 227 votes, a massive widening of the margin of victory since the 2021 run-off when the PNP won the seat by 73 votes.

Second for highest voter turnout was the island of South Caicos or ED3.

There were three candidates, namely: John Malcolm (PNP), the incumbent; Hynetta Forbes (PDM) and Tamell Seymour, who ran independent after missing out on the nod for PNP endorsement.  Seymour pulled an upset and with 84.17% voter turnout, got 165 votes which topped his nearest contender by 61 votes.

Completing the top three for best performing constituencies in terms of voter participation was Electoral District 2.  It featured Edwin Astwood, leader of the People’s Democratic Movement and possible premier.

Astwood lost ground but managed to hold onto the seat, which he has held for four consecutive terms now.  The turnout was 78.42%, which meant 752 voters cast a ballot.  Astwood lost popularity in the three-way race, securing 363 votes; his PNP contender, Walter Gardiner getting, a not too distant, 315 votes and Derek Been had 58 votes in support of his candidacy.

Cheshire Hall & Richmond Hill with 66.57%; Blue Hills with 69.42% and The Bight 70.26% drew the least number of voters out to their election races.  Almost 500 people did not vote in Cheshire Hall and Richmond Hill, though Sammy Been, the PNP incumbent won comfortably by 199 votes over his PDM challenger, Finbar Grant.

It was an improvement for Been who last time, in 2021, had 76 more votes than the PDM.

Overall, 6939 voters turned out to the polls nationwide and informed the Elections Office and these voters leaned strongly toward the PNP when it came to the All-Island candidates.

Legally, each party was allowed to nominate nine individuals to vie for the nine All-Island seats.  The Progressive National Party unapologetically swept this category for a second consecutive time.

Interesting however was the performance of the PDM’s All-Island candidates in their leader’s constituency in Grand Turk South.  It was the only district which gave the PDM a sweeping victory for its all-island slate.  ED2 faithfully returned Edwin Astwood and gave his nine All-Island candidates their unwavering support.  The PDM’s nine finished as the top nine in ED2, pushing the PNP down but only in this one district.

It would be a futile fact when there were nine other districts where voters would be able to make a choice; in those nine constituencies, the PNP dominated.

Almost 50% of voters decided E. Jay Saunders would certainly make a competent member of the House of Assembly, he led the all-island category and finished with the most votes.  Saunders climbed from an arguable third place last election and now commanded 4,614; this reflected 406 more votes over his nearest contender, Washington Misick.

Contrast that again with the top performing PDM candidate in the all-island race, which was Robert Been who racked up a total of 2,767 votes; it would be a difference of 1,847.

The PDM has two seats in the new parliament, which was on Friday February 21, 2025 sworn in and set in motion.  An independent holds one of the parliamentary places.

While these 2025 General Election results are widely accepted as the final outcome of the February 7 national poll, which was deemed a free and fair election by Election Observers; the PDM has filed a Supreme Court petition challenging the validity of the results in a call for the Court to render them null and void.