A voter casts his ballot in the March 27 by-election in All Saints East & St Luke as an election day worker looks on

ST JOHN'S, Antigua, CMC - Electoral officials have started counting the ballots cast in the All Saints East and St Luke by-election, with initial reports indicating that voter turnout was low.

A total of 3,304 electors were eligible to vote Thursday, but voting went slowly when polling stations opened at 6 a.m. and continued to see small numbers until the 6 p.m. close.

The constituents were casting their ballots to determine who will replace former Agriculture Minister Charlesworth Samuel, who served as the Member of Parliament for the area until his death earlier this year.

Two relatively new parties - the Organisation for National Development (OND) and the Progressive Youth Movement (PYM) - are hoping to unseat the incumbent United Progressive Party (UPP).

 

Despite opposition from two parties, UPP candidate Chester Hughes remained confident in his ability to keep the constituency in the hands of the governing party.

 

“I’m not taking the campaign lightly even though they know I’m going to win,” Hughes told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).

 

He also responded to opposition allegations of excessive spending by his campaign.

 

Attorney and OND candidate Ralph Francis had argued that campaigns heavily funded by generous donors could lead to undue influences in government and made claims of heavy spending on the part of the UPP candidate.

 

“A campaign based on who spends the most money is not going to help the people of Antigua and Barbuda,” Francis said.

 

But Hughes dismissed the comments. “I am from a political party that is established and my opponents don’t have the same resources,” he said.

 

“The party has not done anything outside the usual campaigning.”

 

Hughes was the only candidate to hold public meetings in the lead-up to the election having held three rallies in the constituency.

 

Faced with limited resources, the OND and PYM candidates adopted a more personal approach consisting of a series of house visits to get acquainted with the electors.

 

PYM candidate Steve Williams said that even though resources were limited, he was confident that his party had gained support in the constituency.

 

“I am optimistic that even though I am representing a very young party, we are still able to get our message across,” Williams said.

 

His party has campaigned on the platform of youth-empowerment and placing investments in the hands of indigenous people.

 

 

CMC/ak/dmb/bm/08