Members of the public said a lack of knowledge and education about the electoral process and disenchantment with party politics were the two main reasons for the low voter turnout for Monday’s local government elections.
On Tuesday, a statement from the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) said Monday's election turnout was just 30.34 per cent. It was less than the turnout in the last local polls held in 2019 and was also the lowest turnout in 43 years, according to figures in the EBC report on the 2019 election.
“The total votes cast were 331,300 with 996 rejected ballots.”
The statement said the UNC won 173,961 votes to the PNM’s 130,868.
Newsday invited comment on the issue from people on social media.
Photographer and videographer Denith McNicolls, who didn't vote in the election, said, “The government and the Opposition both have shown that they don't care, and whoever I vote for has not made any significant difference in any local government affairs. I have found better uses for both my time, and my finger.”
Eatahfood managing director Baidawi Assing, who didn’t vote in the election, said people were disillusioned with the political system.
“Politics in this country has long been run on symbolism fuelled by exploiting racist and tribal anxieties with little to no real challenge to the status quo. People would vote for a real grassroots movement that was heavily invested in community organising and not political representation.”
Post production technician Kezia Watson said she believed there was a lack of understanding of the significance of local government elections.
“Over the years, political parties have placed more energy and emphasis on general elections and the bid to be PM (prime minister). Even in this year's election, the opposition based its campaign on issues that are more suited to general elections, essentially conflating the two.
“I think people think regardless of who they vote for, central government controls the finances and the country. So who is PM is more important than which political party controls the different borough corporations. I also believe people are fed up with the two main political parties, and think that no matter who they vote for at local government elections, nothing is going to change in the country. So there's little to no desire to participate in the electoral process.”
Watson said proper education campaigns were needed on the roles of central and local government, as well as local government reform, property tax, how regional corporations were funded and how councillors were supposed to use funding to help burgesses, among others.
“This needs to be done, not just in schools, because social media shows that there is a large number of grown adults who are ignorant on the subject.”
'People locked off the manimar'
Clerk Kershelle said there were two major factors involved in the low voter turnout. She said the first was a severe ignorance of how any systems worked in TT.
“This starts at home and continues at school. At home, very few p
