In just under 36 hours, at 7 am on Thursday, the polls will open for the 2008 general election. There are 93 candidates running for 31 seats and there is also the referendum on the elected senate. The Election and Boundaries Department will deploy more than 1,500 public officers to 314 polling stations. The polls open at 7 am and close at 6 p.m. There are over 150 thousand registered voters and Elections Chief Ruth Meighan says they expect a high voter turnout.
Ruth Meighan, Chief Elections Officer,
“We at Elections and Boundaries have made all the preparations for Election Day. We will have our public officers working out there, professional public officers I must say because most of the times the public tends to think we would do things or collude to make the elections run in whichever way but no, that is not what we are all about. So we have two ballots, one election and it is your choice like any other election, to vote in the general election and for the referendum.”
Keith Swift,
So I can choose to not take the referendum ballot?
Ruth Meighan,
“That is your choice as it is with any other election.”
Keith Swift,
With the election ballot there is a concern from the UDP that the orange and
red are next to each other and they are hard to differentiate. What can you tell us about that?
Ruth Meighan,
“That concern was raised with me and I have said to them that we have dealt with it. On the sample ballot it’s really not a good paper that the samples are printed on. So we’ve said to them that the real ballot will clearly differentiate those two colors and it has.”
Keith Swift,
Are you expecting high voter turnout?
Ruth Meighan,
“I believe so because we’ve had a wide increase in voter registration this year. So I do believe that we will have a high voter turnout.”
And while the issue of the color on ballots has been resolved, the concern about the use of cell phones with cameras in the voting booths hasn’t. Meighan says that cell phones will not be banned.
Ruth Meighan,
“We at Elections and Boundaries have not taken any position with respect to the cell phones, other than the fact that the Elections and Boundaries Commission had raised the issue and I think it has been raised by both political parties as a concern. But because elections are run by rules it is not a part of our regulation, it has not been legislated, so we will not really stop anyone from taking cell phones in the polling booths.”
Remember Channel 7’s 08-NOW coverage begins at 7 am in a simulcast with Krem TV and will continue until the last vote is counted.
