THERE was a steady flow of voters in Sangre Grande while the Toco area was described as slow but steady, in the keenly contested Toco/Sangre Grande constituency on April 28.

At the Guaico Government Primary School, many voters were out very early and spoke of a very smooth process in the polling stations there.

However, one voter, Nicole Maharaj, told Newsday she encountered some challenges as she claimed the officials made mistakes.

She said, "They gave me the wrong consecutive number. They didn't cross off the one before. And then when I signed, I'm supposed to sign exactly like the ID card, so I had to re-sign...And then the presiding officer made a mistake saying I was 2110, and I was 2102, so she scratched it...So I'm hoping my ballot is still good."

She said she never had those problems before despite voting regularly at that location.

A woman, who only identified herself as Kay, 38, came with her mother and sister at 5.45 am to cast their ballots when the polls opened at 6 am.

She told Newsday the process was efficient.

She said she is a regular voter and takes her civic right seriously.

"I just needed to get it over with.

"I was taught I don't have a say unless I exercise my franchise, and I like to have a say," she said.

A mother and daughter also came to vote and praised the EBC officials for ensuring everything went well.

They said they live close to the local EBC office and went in recently to check their registration status.

"We got our poll cards as well so we knew where we had to vote."

[caption id="attachment_1152061" align="alignnone" width="1024"] PNM candidate Roger Monroe voted at the Guaico Government Primary School on April 28. - Photo by Stephon Nicholas[/caption]

PNM candidate Roger Monroe also voted at the Guaico Government Primary School around 8.40 am and said everything went smooth.

However, he claimed that at another polling station in Cumaca, Valencia, an agent of another political party arrived claiming to be from the PNM. He said when the PNM agent arrived, they were debarred. He said this was eventually sorted out.

He said he was confident in his election machinery and was also proud that he was able to vote in the constituency he was vying for.

"I am very confident because I am standing on the work that I would have been able to do in Toco/Sangre Grande."

At the Sangre Grande Secondary School, a 43-year-old man said the voting process was smooth even without his polling card or national ID.

He said, "It had a large turnout of voters around this time, 10.21 am. I have voted here my whole life and I have never seen this number of voters.

"I had my driver's permit. They just had a quick confirmation that I was the person, and I was allowed to vote. I swore an affidavit, which is not signing anything but swearing that you're the person."

A young woman who came with her two friends to vote said she did not like the polling agent calling out her name loudly.

Asked if voting was something she took seriously, she said, "Not really."

Asked why