Antigua electoral body threatened with lawsuit
ST JOHN’S, Antigua, (CMC) — The Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Commission (ABEC) has again been threatened with legal action from the electoral watchdog group the Free and Fair League.
The league has called on the commission to hand over a report with what it says are the true figures; who and how much was contributed to the political parties in the 2014 General Election.
During a recent discussion on the matter, legal advisor and member of the league, Ralph Francis, said the organisation will challenge the validity of the document. “It is my recommendation that we go to the court.
We asked that the raw data be released to us and the court does not deem a compiled report to satisfy the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act. I think we have a lot to do,” Francis said.
The attorney added that the league was expecting to receive a copy of the information that was submitted to the commission, but to date the document has not been forthcoming.
But the Antigua Observer reports that the ABEC is putting up a fierce defence of the 2014 Campaign Financing Report, which was released to the League last month, after the organisation went to court to request it.
However, Francis argues that the law requires all campaign contributions to be reported and not just those after the