VOTERS go to the polls today to cast their ballots in the general election.
According to information provided by the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC), there are approximately 1,154,708 people registered to vote in the election.
The commission said this represents an increase of 20,000 people from the number of people who voted in the last election on August 10, 2020.
The total number of people who voted in that election was 1,134,135.
In a statement on April 4, the EBC said 17 political parties and 161 candidates are contesting this election. There are three independent candidates.
PNM has 41 candidates, the only party contesting all constituencies. The Patriotic Front (PF) has the second highest number of candidates, 37. The Opposition UNC is fielding 34 candidates.
The UNC is contesting the election with a “coalition of interests” (COI) which includes some trade unions, Congress of the People (COP) and the Progressive Empowerment Party (PEP).
Since the coalition is not a registered political party, the non-UNC members of the coalition that are fielding candidates are counted separately and not together with bonafide UNC candidates.
The PEP and COP have three and two candidates, respectively, facing the polls.
The National Transformation Alliance (NTA) has 17 candidates in the election.
In Tobago, the PNM, PF, Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP), Innovative Democratic Alliance (IDA),Unity of the People (UTP) and Tobago People’s Party (TPP) have candidates contesting the island’s two constituencies, Tobago West and Tobago East.
The PDP, TPP, IDA and UTP are Tobago-based parties and not contesting any constituency in Trinidad.
Neither the UNC nor its COI has any candidates in Tobago
The three independent candidates facing the polls are Ernesto Singh (Chaguanas East), Vivian Johnson (Port of Spain North/St Ann’s West) and Leroy Richard Kelton George (Tobago West).
Voting for special electors in the election began on April 21 and ended on April 27.
A total of 16,748 people were eligible to vote as special electors.
These are people who vote ahead of election day because they will be unable to vote on that day.
They include members of the protective services, polling agents, EBC members, people in hospital, people in prison and people engaged in offshore petroleum operations.
Of the 41 constituencies that will be contested, there have been boundary, name and name and boundary changes to some.
The first group includes Arima, Caroni Central, Cumuto/Manzanilla, La Horquetta/Talparo, Laventille East/Morvant,Laventille West, Oropouche East, Port Of Spain North/St. Ann’s West, Port of Spain South, San Fernando East, San Fernando West, Tabaquite and Toco/Sangre Grande.
The second group includes Aranguez/St. Joseph (formerly St Joseph) and Arouca/Lopinot (formerly Lopinot/Bon Air West)
The third group includes Malabar/Mausica (formerly D’Abadie/O’Meara), Claxton Bay (formerly Pointe-a-Pierre) and Trincity/Maloney (formerly Arouca/Maloney).
On March 18, Prime Minister Stuart Young advised President Christine Kangaloo to dissolve the Parliament and announced April 28 as election day.
Young, 50, was sworn in a prime minister on March 17, one day after his predecessor Dr Keith Rowley resigned as prime minister.
Rowley, 75, who is still PNM political leader, is not standing for re-election as Diego Martin West MP which he has represented in Parliament since 1991.
Opposition Leader and UNC political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, 73, is bidding to be elected a second time as prime minister.
Persad-Bissessar was prime minister from May 24, 2010 to September 7, 2015.
Other notable persons in the election are former police commissioner and national security minister Gary Griffith (NTA political leader) and Mickela Panday (PF political leader). Panday is the daughter of UNC founder and former prime minister Basdeo Panday who died on January 1.
The PNM won the last election in 2020 by a 22-19 margin.
The party’s majority in the House of Representatives was reduced by one last December with the tragic death of D’Abadie/O’Meara MP Lisa Morris-Julian in a fire at her home in Arima. Two of her children also died in the fire.
Election observer teams from Caricom and the Commonwealth are in TT for the election.
