BARBADOS – Polls closed in Barbados general election

Barbadians are now awaiting the outcome of Thursday’s general election after the estimated 542 polling stations closed after a 12 hour period.

While, generally, the election was incident free, several people, mainly non-nationals, were forced to go to the Court to get an order allowing them to cast their ballots.

Chief Justice Sir Marston Gibson ruled that approximately 20 nationals and non-nationals should be allowed to vote before the polls were closed after a six and a half hour emergency hearing of the matter on Thursday.

There had been widespread reports that several people were turned away from their respective polling stations and their legal representatives, led by Elliot Mottley, the father of the leader of the main opposition Barbados Labour Party (BL)) Mia Mottley, urged them to show up at the Supreme Court to give testimony that they had in fact been in the island for the requisite three years.

As a result of the ruling, the Chief Electoral Officer, Angela Taylor, was given an order to issue an addendum to allow for the parties to vote.

Counting of the ballots will begin at 8 p.m. (local time).

While there are a record 135 candidates and seven political parties vying for control of the 30-member Parliament, the contest was seen as a straight fight between the incumbent Democratic Labour Party (DLP) of Prime Minister Freundel Stuart and the BLP.