Barbadians who will be in isolation due to a positive COVID-19 diagnosis will not be allowed to vote tomorrow.
After almost two weeks of back and forth, chairman of the Electoral and Boundaries Commission (EBC), Queen’s Counsel Leslie Haynes, confirmed yesterday the entity received a legal review on the matter, and it had been determined that those self-isolating or patients of isolation facilities remain prohibited from visiting polling stations.
But that could all change today when a lawsuit to prevent the election is heard in the High Court. Attorney and social activist Lalu Hanuman said he had filed an injunction for an emergency hearing to have the election called off.
He applied on behalf of Philip Catlyn, of the Barbados Sovereignty Party, for a judicial review of the use of the presidential prerogative to dissolve Parliament and the issuing of the electoral writs, during a pandemic, and with the resultant disenfranchisement of thousands of electors.
“The right to vote is a fundamental human right that many have fought and died for over many centuries. We have to protect it,” the attorney said. (BA)
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