by Curlan Campbell, NOW Grenada
- The Governor-General to issue new writ this week
- Once writ is issued, people will have 9 days in which to register
- Parliamentary Electoral Office engaging stakeholders ahead of referendum day
A new writ is to be issued by Her Excellency Governor-General, Dame Cécile La Grenade, ahead of the 6 November referendum to enable accession to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as the final Court of Appeal instead of the Privy Council.
The Parliamentary Electoral Office (PEO) indicated the writ is expected to be issued sometime this week, but a specific date is yet to be confirmed.
Civic and Education Officer at the PEO, Ferdinand Phillip, said they are currently engaging various stakeholders to ensure smooth running on referendum day. “We believe that we are at present adhering to all our necessary schedules. Even as I speak we are engaging with the RGPF to ensure that they play their part to ensure a smooth process. All of our registration officers have been engaging with and were brought up to speed on what’s required of them, so we just await the issuance of the writ.”
The public is reminded that once the writ has been issued, people wishing to be registered will only have 9 days in which to do so. “On the 9th day after the issuance of the writ, registration will cease for the upcoming referendum and so we need them to be aware. Of course, the returning officers will take their oath where they will be then referred to as returning officers. The supervisor of elections will ensure the writ and the amendment bill will be published in the Gazette and in the newspapers, so that within 14 days of the issuance of the writ, the list will be made public.”
The public can also access the voter’s list on the PEO website http://www.peogrenada.org.
If the Constitution of Grenada (Caribbean Court of Justice and other justice-related matters) (Amendment) Bill 2018, receives a two-thirds majority of voters on referendum day, this will amend the Constitution of Grenada to change the final appellate court from London’s Privy Council to the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice. This bill failed to receive the adequate number of votes in the 27 November 2016 referendum.
