Campaigners for YES Bahamas (left) and Save Our Bahamas (right).
Wednesday 11am: PARLIAMENTARY Commissioner Sherlyn Hall has confirmed that officials at the parliamentary department are in the process of recounting ballots in the Gender Equality referendum on Wednesday and results are now expected at 2pm.
Unofficial results were not fully released to the public on Tuesday night, as the department was marred by many technical setbacks, marking the first time that full polling results have been withheld.
Both Mr. Hall and Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Chairman Bradley Roberts have already conceded that all four constitutional amendments were rejected.
12.20am: THE four bills touted to bring gender equality to the Bahamas constitution were overwhelmingly rejected by voters at the polls yesterday.
However, the unofficial results were not fully released to the public last night as the parliamentary department was hit by numerous technical setbacks. It is the first time that full polling results have been withheld, instead Parliamentary Commissioner Sherlyn Hall gave an estimation based on voting trends after only five constituencies.
Mr. Hall pointed to electricity outages and telecommunication issues when pressed for an explanation over the stalled process.
• See Wednesday's Tribune for full referendum coverage.
11.55pm: Unofficial results released by the Parliamentary Commissioner earlier: Bamboo Town
QUESTION 1 - Yes 800, No 1,851; QUESTION 2 - Yes 541, No 2,106; QUESTION 3 - Yes 705, No 1,937; QUESTION 4 - Yes 361, No 2,279.
11.45pm: Parliamentary Commissioner Sherlyn Hall has said the results coming in so far indicate the four bills have been “rejected” by the Bahamian electorate. Despite complete results from just five constituencies, there will be no more results released tonight. Mr. Hall said that the team in Montagu have been unable to count votes due to a power outage and the fax machine at the Parliamentary Commission isn't working.
10.25pm: PLP Chairman Bradley Roberts has released a statement appearing to concede the Constitutional Referendum.
Mr. Roberts said: “The will of the Bahamian people was expressed unfettered in the historic June 7 gender equality referendum as Bahamians went to the polls and respectfully and peacefully exercised their voting franchise. I thank them for their solemn and reverential respect for the democratic process.
“Today the Bahamian people spoke loud and clear by voting NO in the majority on the four referendum questions placed before them today. The government respects and will abide by the will of the people pursuant to the constitution.”
He added: “Like Prime Minister Christie said in his address in Bimini on Saturday, sometimes democracy may not manifest itself in the manner we would like, but it is still democracy none the less and we respect that reality.”
10.20pm: More unofficial results coming from New Providence lean heavily towards “No”.
9.50pm: Unofficial results which have been released by the Parliamentary Commissioner: Mangrove Cay & South Andros
QUESTION 1 - Yes 268, No 434; QUESTION 2 - Yes 214, No 491; QUESTION 3 - Yes 238, No 459; QUESTION 4 - Yes 154, No 541.
9.45pm: Unofficial results which have been released by the Parliamentary Commissioner: North Andros & Berry Island
QUESTION 1 - Yes 369, No 456; QUESTION 2 - Yes 230, No 492; QUESTION 3 - Yes 231, No 489; QUESTION 4 - Yes 196, No 534.
9.35pm: Unofficial results which have been released by the Parliamentary Commissioner: Cat Island, Rum Cay & San Salvador.
QUESTION 1 - Yes 239, No 295; QUESTION 2 - Yes 252, No 325; QUESTION 3 - Yes 277, No 310; QUESTION 4 - Yes 183, No 379.
9.05pm: An update to the UNOFFICIAL totals so far:
QUESTION 1 - Yes 1,556, No 2,886; QUESTION 2 - Yes 1,151, No 3,276; QUESTION 3 - Yes 1,288, No 3,062; QUESTION 4 - Yes 906, No 3,500.
8.35pm: These are the unofficial totals so far as reported by ZNS - a reminder that Parliamentary Commissioner Sherlyn Hall has not vetted any vote counts so far: QUESTION 1 - Yes 1,549, No 2,871; QUESTION 2 - Yes 1,146, No 3,257; QUESTION 3 - Yes 1,283, No 3,045; QUESTION 4 - Yes 883, No 3,481.
8.20pm: Parliamentary Commissioner Sherlyn Hall has said none of the early results have been vetted by him, therefore they are not official.
8.15pm: Incomplete results from East Grand Bahama, Marco City, Pineridge and West Grand Bahama & Bimini are leaving heavily towards “No” on all four questions.
8.00pm: With nine of 13 polling divisions in from North Andros & Berry Island, the totals so far are: QUESTION 1: Yes 161, No 282; QUESTION 2: Yes 136, No 311; QUESTION 3: Yes 141, No 303; QUESTION 4: Yes 115, No 328.
7.40pm: We're still waiting for official results from the referendum. As soon as we get them, they'll be posted here.
6.50pm: Parliamentary Commissioner Sherlyn Hall said some polling stations have reported low turnouts, including a polling station in the Carmichael constituency and one in Andros.
He said these polling stations initially indicated a turn out of less than 50 per cent.
He also said the referendum polls closed with no major incident. According to Mr. Hall, there were a few reports of persons having to be redirected to different polling stations because they had not originally reported to their 2012 polling area.
6.15pm: In The Tribune's online referendum poll, 50% of voters said they would vote “Yes” to all four bills, 9.18% said they would vote “Yes” to some of the bills, and 40.82% said they would vote “No” to all four bills.
6.10pm: The Yes Bahamas campaign is urging volunteers to gather at Charlotte House on Shirley Street as the returns come in from the vote, saying that "no matter the news, they want to celebrate and thank all those who participated in this historic event".
4.40pm: Although he voted in support of all four questions, Free National Movement (FNM) Senator Dr. Duane Sands said he does not expect today's gender equality referendum will be successful.
4.35pm: Former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham reportedly said today he had voted “Yes” to all four bills.
3.05pm: YES Bahamas campaign organisers in the Elizabeth constituency remain optimistic about the outcome of the gender equality referendum, even though some felt they did not have enough time to educate voters.
2.50pm: Parliamentary Commissioner Sherlyn Hall is asking persons attempting to vote in today's referendum to make their voter's card the identification document of choice.
Mr. Hall stressed that while the use of passports, driver’s licenses and NIB cards are encouraged, they are presenting officials with the task of identifying the proper polling stations on site, as compared to the voter's card which has pertinent information already listed.
“When they come in with passports, (driver’s) licenses and NIB smart-cards we then have to stop, search our register and locate names, confirm identity and then relate which polling station the voters should go to. The inside of every voter’s card has that information clarified, making it a simple process of presenting the card and pointing voters in the right direction.”
Polls opened at 8am today.
2.40pm: Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson said today she believes Bahamians will “do the right thing” when they cast their vote in today’s constitutional referendum.
1.45pm: There are reports from Abaco of several first time voters being turned away from the polls. The voters say they had registered before the May 25 deadline and went to the polls with their passports and receipt of registration. However, they were reportedly turned away because they were not on the 2012 registry.
1.05pm: Prime Minister Perry Christie said this morning he is "disappointed" that the Opposition who "once stood shoulder to shoulder" with him on the Constitutional Referendum, has decided to "back away" publicly from his original “Yes” stance.
12.45pm: Prime Minister Perry Christie (left) is pictured his vote at H.O. Nash Junior High School earlier this morning. The polling station wasn't busy when the Prime Minister arrived – just after 10am. So far, reports are that many polling stations have been reasonably quiet.
12.00: Don't miss your Tally Sheets in today's Tribune.
11.30am: Save Our Bahamas committee member Pastor Lyall Bethel has claimed that the organisation was being “brutally victimised”.
FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis has refused to say how he will vote.
10.45am: Today's lead story is now online.
WHERE TO CAST YOUR VOTE (Click to view)
Today's Tribune has also published a full guide to the polling divisions, places to vote and when the polls open and close in each constituency.
Then, once the results start to be announced, you can fill in The Tribune’s tally sheets division-by-division and bill-by-bill to keep track of how the Yes and No votes are mounting for each of the four amendments.
Click here to read more at The Tribune
