Trinidad

&
Tobago
The
Electoral
Process
1
 Trinidad and Tobago

• The Republic of Trinidad and

Tobago is an archipelagic
state in the southern
Caribbean, lying just off the
coast of north-eastern
Venezuela and south of
Grenada in the Lesser
Antilles.

• It shares maritime boundaries

with other nations including
Barbados to the northeast,
Guyana to the southeast, and
Venezuela to the south and
west.
 History of Governance
• Under the Constitution of Trinidad
and Tobago Act of 1976, Trinidad
and Tobago is a democratic
Republic within the Commonwealth
with its own President as titular
Head of State and Commander-in-
Chief of the armed forces.
• Between 31 August 1962 when
Trinidad and Tobago obtained its
independence from Great Britain,
and 24, September 1976 when the
Republican constitution was
enacted, the Head of State was her
Majesty the Queen of England who
His Excellency Anthony Thomas Aquinas Carmona, SC was represented by a Governor –
The President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
General.
 Our Electoral System
• The Parliament consists of a Bicameral Legislature composed of an Upper
House – the Senate, and a Lower House – the House of Representatives
organised according to the Westminister or first past the post system.
• The Senate consists of 31 appointed members, 16 being appointed by the
President on the advice of the Prime Minister, 6 on the advice of the
Leader of the Opposition and 9 at the discretion of the President.

Parliament of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago

 Our Electoral System (Continued…)
• The House of
Representatives consists
of 41 (39 for Trinidad
and 2 for Tobago)
members elected by the
citizens at the General
Elections held every 5
years or less and a
Speaker who is elected
from either within or
outside the House of
Representatives.
First sitting of Parliament

• An Electoral College comprising all members of the Senate and the

House of Representatives voting by secret ballot elects the President.
 Our Electoral System (Continued…)

• Executive power is vested in the Prime Minister, the

leader of the majority side in the House of
Representatives, who is appointed by the President,
and the Cabinet.
 POLICY MAKING AND MANAGEMENT OF THE
ELECTORAL PROCESS
• In Trinidad and Tobago’s electoral
management system, there are two
components and dual structures: a policy
making body which is the Elections and
Boundaries Commission.
• It is a constitutional body, and is
responsible for the registration of voters
and the conduct of all elections:
Parliamentary, Municipal Council and
Tobago House of Assembly.
• They have no connection with the
Executive arm of Government, and a
Department of the State which is staffed by
public officers.
• This part of the structure being the
implementation arm or Electoral
Management Body (EMB) subject to
oversight by the independent component,
the Commission.
 POLICY MAKING AND MANAGEMENT OF THE
ELECTORAL PROCESS (Continued…)
• The Commission consists of
five independent members,
whom are appointed by the
President of the country after
consultation with the Prime
Minister and Leader of
Opposition.
• The Commission reviews the
number and boundaries of the
electoral districts into which
Trinidad and Tobago is divided
for the purposes of elections,
and for the submission of these
reports to relevant authorities.
Board of Commissioners of the Elections and Boundaries Commission
VOTER RIGHTS AND VOTER REGISTRATION

A person is qualified to be an elector for an

electoral district at elections to either
Parliament or Tobago House of Assembly
provided that person is:

• of the age of eighteen or more years and on

the qualifying date is
• either (i) a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago or
(ii) a citizen of a Commonwealth country
other than Trinidad and Tobago
• has been resident in Trinidad and Tobago for
a period of at least one year immediately
preceding the qualifying date, such residency
being in accordance with the meaning of
Section 5(1) of the Immigration Act.
 VOTER RIGHTS AND VOTER REGISTRATION
• In the case of Municipal Council elections, the conditions at (i) and (ii) of the foregoing
apply to citizens of Trinidad and Tobago and the Commonwealth. However, for non-
Commonwealth citizens such persons are required to have resided in the country for a
continuous period of at least five years immediately before the preceding date.

• For these citizens there are other additional requirements associated with the distance
of their residence from a City or Borough or their occupation as owners of property of a
certain annual rateable value.
 System of Voter Registration
• An Annual List of Electors is normally
published on 1st July and posted
throughout all registration areas
embracing all electoral districts in Trinidad
and Tobago in order for the general public
and political parties to have access to it.
This would now enable persons to bring
any inaccuracies to the attention of the
Registration Officers.

The system of registration in Trinidad

and Tobago is described as
“Permanent Personal Registration”. It
is a continuous one in which lists of
electors are updated on a regular
basis.
 VOTER IDENTIFICATION CARDS
• An important by-product of the
registration process is the
production of an identification card,
renewable after ten years.
• The earliest age at which an
individual can receive an
identification card is fifteen years,
but such a person cannot vote
eighteen years of age.
• Shortly before, a check is made to
determine whether details
appertaining to that person’s
registration remain as originally
A registrant takes his photograph to be placed on the identification card. presented.
• Upon confirmation, the individual’s
name is entered on the electoral list
thus entitling exercise of the
franchise.
 VOTERS LIST

• The voters list or electoral list as it is often

called is used for the generation of poll
cards for distribution to electors.

• This list is also made available on the

internet www.ebctt.com where electors
may also access information relating to
their polling stations at election time.
 RIGHTS OF CANDIDATES, POLITICAL PARTIES
AND ELECTION CAMPAIGNS

• There are no rules for the registration

of political parties in Trinidad and
Tobago.
• In fact the term political party is
neither defined in the Constitution of
the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
nor in any other statutory instrument
in the country.
• However, the term appears in the
Constitution and in the Representation
of the People Act, Chap. 2:01 (ROP)
where in the latter the election rules
provide for the assignation by the EBC
of party symbols (which are registered)
to political parties upon application.
 RIGHTS OF CANDIDATES, POLITICAL PARTIES AND
ELECTION CAMPAIGNS

• The election rules also provide for the

nomination of candidates, but there is no
requirement that a specific officer of a political
party should provide the names of such
candidates to the Elections and Boundaries
Commission.
 Returning Officers
• A Returning Officer recognises an individual as the
nominee of a particular party only on the condition
that the candidate informs the Returning Officer, in
writing, on Nomination Day that he or she is a
member of the party

• That such membership is confirmed by a list of party

candidates “… supplied to the Returning Officer by
the party of which he [or she] claims membership …”
 Election Offences
• There is at present no code of
conduct as it relates to election
campaigns but the Representation of
the People Act (ROP) specifies a
series of offences. Persons
committing such are liable to a
charge of engaging in a corrupt
practice. Such offences include:
• causing disturbance at election
meetings; hiring or using premises
that are licenses for sale and/or
consumption in situ of intoxicating
liquor or at which premises
“refreshment”
 BALLOTING, MONITORING, AND COMPILATION OF
RESULTS

• The method of balloting is by means of

the ballot box.

• At present the winning parties in

Parliamentary and in Tobago House of
Assembly elections are chosen on the
basis of the electoral system First Past
the Post (FPTP).

• In the case of Local Government

Elections, Councillors and Aldermen
are chosen on the basis of a system of
Proportional Representation (PR)
administered by the Commission.
 BALLOTING, MONITORING, AND COMPILATION OF
RESULTS

• The balloting process is fairly simple and is carried

out in accordance with Elections Rules made under
the ROP. It is conducted by election officers and
other individuals who are specially trained to apply
them without fear or favour.

• Voting is secret but special provisions apply in the

case of incapacitated electors who are allowed to
vote using a template or with the assistance of a
companion of their choice.
BALLOTING, MONITORING, AND COMPILATION OF
RESULTS
• Registered electors are entitled to vote at their
assigned polling stations provided their names
are on the Revised List of Electors posted
there

• In cases where their names are not on such a

list, their Registration Record Cards are in the
binders at that polling station.

• Voters mark their ballot papers in secrecy and

insert them in a ballot box after having
immersed their fingers in electoral ink.

• The Officer-in-Charge of the ballot box inserts

each voter’s poll card in a poll-card box after
having marked on it that the person has voted.
 Special Electors
• Separate provisions are made in the ROP for
certain individuals to be treated as Special
Electors.

• Such persons include among others, members of

the constabulary, defence force, prison service,
election officers, returning officers, election
candidates, persons engaged in offshore
petroleum operations, certain prisoners and
hospitalised patients.
 The Closing of the Poll

• At the close of the Poll, Presiding Officers who are in effect managers of
their polling stations enter a record in their Polling Station Diary.

• They must sign off, the time the Poll was closed, the number of persons
who voted at their station as indicated by the number on the stub of the
last ballot paper issued and the number of destroyed and spoiled ballots.

• Such record must also be signed by each Presiding Officer’s deputy as well
by their Poll Clerks and such candidates or polling agents of candidates
who are present.
 Procedures after taking of the Poll
• After closing of the Poll, the ballot papers of Special Electors are mixed by
Presiding Officers with those of the ordinary electors who would have
voted at his/her station.

• Counting of ballot papers is conducted by Presiding Officers in full view of

the candidates or election agents.

• Each Presiding Officer is required to complete a Statement of the Poll,

such statement indicating his electoral district and polling station and the
following information.
 Procedures after taking of the Poll
(Continued…)

• Number of ballot papers received from his/her Returning Officer;

• Total number of ballots cast for all candidates of the electoral district;

• Number of rejected ballots;

• Total number of ballots found in ballot box = (ii) + (iii);

• Number of destroyed ballots;

 Procedures after taking of the Poll
(Continued…)

• Number of spoiled ballots;

• Number of unused ballot papers undetached from the books

of ballot papers supplied to Presiding Officer by Returning
Officer;

• Number of poll cards in poll-card Box; and,

• Number of names on Revise List of Electors at polling station.

 Statements of the Poll

• After Returning Officers receive duplicates of

Statements of the Poll from the Presiding
Officers of the polling stations of his/her
electoral district they announce the total
votes recorded for each candidate in the
Statements of the Poll for their district.
 Confirming the results

• And where by 12 noon on the day

immediately following the Closing of
the Poll, neither a candidate or
election agent has requested a final
count, Returning Officers confirm
the results submitted by their
Presiding Officers as reflected in the
Statement of the Poll.

• If however there is a request for a

recount by either candidate or
election agent, then a procedure as
set out in the ROP must be followed.
 Election Observers
• The general practice has grown over
the years for external observers to
monitor Parliamentary elections to
ensure that the results reflect the will
of the electorate.
• All elections are monitored by the
Elections and Boundaries Commission,
the members of which visit polling
stations right across all electoral
districts.

Dr. Norbert Masson, Chairman of the Elections and Boundaries

Commission speaks with members of the media on Election Day.
 COMPLAINTS AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION

• The ROP provides for reference to the High Court of questions relating to
the validity of the appointment of members to the following: House of
Representatives, Senate, Municipal Councils and Tobago House of Assembly,
such reference being in the form, in each case, of a representation petition.

• Returning Officers or Election Clerks are deemed to be respondents where

election petitions complain about their conduct at elections.
 COMPLAINTS AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION

• The provisions of the ROP also allow for representation petitions to be

made in connection with the validity of returns of election expenses
submitted by a candidate or election agent.

• Where such petitions show that corrupt or illegal practice were committed
in reference to certain activities to such an extent that it could reasonably
be inferred that the result of the election was thereby impaired, the
candidate’s selection is voided.

• That outcome renders him/her “… incapable of being elected to fill the

vacancy or any of the vacancies for which the election was held.”
ELECTORAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
 CONCLUSION
• The specifics of the technical and management
processes in the electoral system of Trinidad and
Tobago as outlined in the foregoing may fairly be said
to correspond very closely with those expressed in
the goals and objectives of International Law in
respect of the rights and responsibilities of
individuals and political parties. However, as regards
features of the rights and responsibilities of
governments under International Law, Trinidad and
Tobago’s system is deficient in four important areas
viz.
 These areas are:
• Absence in law of regulations for establishment,
registration and operations of political parties;
• Absence of legal provisions for control of funding of
political parties and political campaigns;
• Provisions for maintenance of the viability of political
parties through public funding and guaranteed free-
time in the media; and,
• Allowing parties and candidates equality of access to
government-controlled media.
The End.