Charmaine R. Rosan-Bunbury. Photo: Provided

Many complaints and observations have been made over the past years. During Friday June 5, 2015 advance polling session, these concerns came to a head with new and some old candidates.

As an At Large candidate with the Virgin Islands Party, part of my platform has been introducing good governance, ministerial accountability and stomping out corruption. Here we are today with grave concerns as to the transparency and fairness of our electoral process.

We must be mindful of our position on the world stage and being branded a third world country. Most often the inability to carry out fair elections is one clear indication of a third world status.

The BVI is at a cross road in determining its future and we must become focused on solutions to move the country forward.

We have quite a bit of flaws in our electoral process that would not be found in other civilised countries. We are almost operating under a cowboy type system. To ensure a transparent and fair electoral process moving forward, we must establish by way of a statutory body, an election commission board. This should comprise of a chairman and members who represent the various political parties.  

The printing of ballot sheets should by no means be printed by any company on Island or by any company with close affiliation to any of the political parties. These should be printed overseas; with hidden serial numbers to ensure the ballot sheets are tamper proof.

Further, at the end of advance polling, a statement of polls should be done to confirm the number of ballots cast and the number of votes each candidate received. 

These steps would go a long way in paving the path to transparent and fair elections.

With all that said let us all be vigilant and do our part as best we can to ensure a fair 2015 General Election.