BASSETERRE, St Kitts (CMC) – The St Kitts-Nevis government says it is moving towards abolishing legislation that allows law enforcement and essential services officers to cast their votes ahead of a general election.

Prime Minister Dr Timothy Harris said his coalition administration will table legislation to strike down an amendment to the Electoral Act when Parliament meets on March 23.

He told reporters that  “among the matters to be brought before Parliament will be one to renounce and make inapplicable, null and void and of no effect the infamous “Early Voting of Security Forces and Persons who Perform Essential Services (Procedure) Regulations “SR&O No. 10 of 2015” Published February 05, 2015.”

Describing the legislation as, “part of the response of an insecure administration in its dying moment to steal the election,” Prime Minister Harris said that the legislation “was unnecessary.”

“Given the size of our electorate in general, the size of the electorate, in particular that was to be given to the opportunity to vote early, there is no demand for early voting,” he said, adding that the legislation “represents a callous waste of time of the electoral officials, places an unnecessary burden on our security forces and adds an unnecessary burden to a fragile, pressurized and politicized electoral system.  Some polling stations reported no voters.”

Prime Minister Harris said that the electorate was not fooled, noting that, “the majority of our police, nurses, EMT, and other bodies and persons saw the trap and by their non-participation rejected the perverse early voting”.

Harris said that the March 23 sitting of Parliament will also revoke the SR&O No.10 of 2015, and will result in all voters casting their vote “on the same day with the usual safeguards, preferences, courtesies, given to our armed forces and uniformed bodies, the elderly and those differently able”.