While it congratulated the newly elected Free National Movement (FNM) administration and commended Bahamians on their "continued commitment to democracy", despite the "sense of unease" in the lead up to Wednesday's poll, the Electoral Observation Mission of the Organization of American States (OAS/EOM) recommended the country address electoral organization following several concerns at the advance poll, and once again urged the country to address its election campaign financing and constituency boundaries procedures.
The OAS/EOM team visited 157 polling stations in 29 constituencies and based its preliminary findings and recommendations on the electoral organization, the constituency boundaries, campaign finance, and gender involvement.
When it came to the advance poll, as previously reported, there was concern about the register, the availability of materials at locations overseas, the reduction in the number of polling stations and the extensive waiting times in New Providence.
To combat this, the mission recommended the Parliamentary Registration Department take steps to clarify, publicize and adhere to categories of people who are eligible to participate in the advance poll.
Similar to the observation made by the CARICOM mission, the OAS/EOM said the last-minute change of the parliamentary commissioner also contributed to a sense of unease in the run-up to the poll.
According to officials, former Parliamentary Commissioner Sherlyn Hall's contract ended following the advance poll and Charles Albury was appointed acting parliamentary commissioner just days before Wednesday's general election.
Pertaining to the electoral procedures and voter registration, the mission recommended The Bahamas "consider modernizing its processes by digitizing registration procedures and voter's cards which include citizens' personal data, photos, the administrative information required for voting and security features", to improve efficiency and security and reduce the level of human error.
The mission also expressed concern about the release of the Constituencies Commission report, insisting the "timing impacted other essential steps in the electoral process" and recommended that future reports take place sufficiently in advance to allow other electoral actions to take place in a timely matter.
Former Prime Minister Perry Christie tabled the Constituencies Commission report on February 8, 2017.
The Christie administration was heavily criticized for the late tabling of the report.
The constitution calls for reports to be completed at five-year intervals.
The last commission report was tabled on November 28, 2011, nearly six months ahead of the May 7, 2012, general election.
The mission also reiterated the 2012 EOM recommendations for the consideration of an independent boundaries commission as well as the introduction of a "standardized technical criteria in the delimitation of boundaries and measure to guarantee the institution, administrative, financial and technical independence of the constituency boundaries commission".
Another of its 2012 recommendations which the mission reiterated was the need for campaign finance reform.
The Christie administration, however, made no headway on the recommendations.
"In order to guarantee a more level playing field and transparency in the electoral process, the mission urges The Bahamas, once more, to consider introducing legislation to regulate political campaign financing," the mission said.
The mission added that it was pleased to observe an increase in female candidates compared to the last election, but pointed out that women will still be underrepresented in Parliament.
According to unofficial results, only five women won Parliamentary seats: Englerston incumbent Glenys Hanna-Martin, incoming Seabreeze MP Lanisha Rolle, incoming Fox Hill MP Shonel Ferguson, incoming MICAL MP Miriam Reckly-Emmanuel and incoming West Grand Bahama and Bimini MP Pakesia Parker-Edgecombe.
The mission recommended that The Bahamas consider introducing a gender quota in candidate lists, and that political parties and civil society collaborate to develop training programs and awareness-raising campaigns to promote women's participation and leadership in politics.
A detailed report on the observations and recommendations of the OAS/EOM is expected to be released at a later date.
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