ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Jamaica’s director of elections, Danville Walker, has given the Antigua and Barbuda’s election machinery a passing grade even before it is tested in the general polls today.

The Antigua and Barbuda Electoral, which is managing its first polls, had contracted the EOJ as a consultant. Members of staff at the EOJ also trained Antiguan officials, and will assist with today’s proceedings.

“The systems you have in place here in Antigua, I can say without any fear of contradiction, is easily one of the more advanced and one of the most modern in the world. I’ve no doubt about it,” Walker said.

He also noted that both last July’s re-registration exercise and the printing of ballot papers was handled efficiently.

“I thought (the registration) went pretty well and resulted in what I thought to be one of the very best voter’s list in the Caribbean,” he continued.

“I don’t want to say it is better than the one in Jamaica , but in many ways, I actually think it is better, because you have to prove your credentials before you register here. In Jamaica . you don’t have to bring your birth certificate or anything. (In Antigua) you have to bring some ID and that makes it even a tighter system,” he argued.

Walker lauded Antigua for the system of collecting fingerprints and cross matching them with the voter’s list. “I only know one other country apart from Jamaica that does that,” he remarked.

He also expressed satisfaction with the distribution rate of the voter ID cards.

“To have 43,000 cards and to have only (about 1,000) left to be delivered is just short of remarkable, in my opinion,” he said, adding that he had never been “associated” with any elections where the delivery rate of the card was that high.

Having collected their cards, most Antiguans spent yesterday on the campaign trail. Speakers atop campaign trucks blared the slogan “Vote them out!” to a calypso beat, ahead of today’s polls, marked by charges of corruption that could oust the 28-year Bird family dynasty in Antigua and Barbuda.

Antigua’s voters “will take back the country,” opposition leader Baldwin Spencer told thousands at a rally early yesterday, promising that his party would “unravel the murky mysteries of the country’s assets”.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Lester Bird’s supporters accused the opposition of resorting to smear tactics and offering few concrete proposals. The governing Antigua Labour Party will head into today’s elections with nine of 17 seats in the House of Representatives, seeking a seventh straight term. Polls, however, predicted it could be the party’s first loss since 1976.

The opposition pledged greater unemployment benefits and support for school uniforms and lunches, while Bird promised to cut corporate tax from 40 per cent to 25 per cent and give tax credits to hotels and manufacturers.

Accusations of corruption crept into the race Saturday night as hundreds massed outside Bird’s office, where workers removed boxes of what Bird called personal items. Protesters accused him of trying to squirrel away incriminating documents – an accusation he called “absolutely crazy and outrageous”.

A crowd of protesters remained outside the office yesterday, chanting “We caught them now!” while police and soldiers stood guard.

An opposition win would mark the first time since 1981 for Antigua not to have a Bird as prime minister. Lester Bird, now 66, took office in 1994 on the death of his father, a labour leader who fought British colonists and became the first prime minister in 1981.

The government has repeatedly weathered scandals. In 2002, an inquiry into fraud in the national health insurance program implicated 12 officials, including two former ministers, all of whom were removed. Seven have been charged and await trial.

The same year, scandal broke out when a teenage girl accused Bird of raping her, which he denied. An inquiry later dismissed the claim, citing a lack of evidence.

In June, three legislators quit the Labour Party to protest a decision not to hold a vote of confidence or debate corruption allegations.

Bird is running to keep his seat against Errol Cort, a former attorney general whom Bird fired following the insurance scandal. Cort has accused Bird of condoning corruption.

More than 43,000 people were eligible to vote, and observers were on hand from the Caribbean Community and London-based Commonwealth Secretariat.

Forty candidates were competing for 17 House seats, while members of the 17-seat Senate are appointed.

Several polls have predicted the opposition would win nine House seats. The latest survey this month was conducted by the research group CASURO and questioned 1,200 people, with an error margin of 8 per cent.