St. George's -- The Organisation of American States (OAS) team of election observers was in the Spice Isle to cover Grenada's general elections held on Tuesday. Prior to the vote, OAS Assistant Secretary General Albert
appealed to the people of Grenada to vote peacefully and in an orderly manner.
This Electoral Observation Mission‹the third time that the OAS was monitoring elections in Grenada‹was the largest ever team of observers that the Organisation has sent to a Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country.
The organisation deployed about 17 teams on Election Day to cover all the 15 constituencies, including Carriacou and Petit Martinique.
The OAS monitors visited all polling stations on Election Day.
"We will have 100 per cent coverage of the country, and this will give us an opportunity to receive first-hand information from our own observers and on that basis to make pronouncements on how elections went on the 8th of July," said Ramdin, who is Chief of the OAS' Electoral Observation Mission in Grenada.
On Election Day, the OAS observers were expected to be present for the opening and closing of polls, the voting itself as well as for the vote count and the transmission of the results.
Ramdin also said that he had expected the logistical and organisational elements of the election to flow smoothly on Tuesday, given the preparation of polling station workers, presiding officers and polling clerks, in addition to the active engagement of the party agents.
"Overall, the administrative aspects of voting should be good and acceptable to international standards," he added, noting that after the polls the hemispheric Organisation will make recommendations as to how aspects of the preparation could be improved.
Ramdin described the stakes as very high for the two main political parties in the vote.
Prime Minister Mitchell was seeking a fourth consecutive term for his New National Party while the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was trying to end thirteen years in the political wilderness.
A lost for Mitchell could prove embarrassing for him in light of prolonged legal battles in the U.S involving a fraud-related case with an ex-Grenada ambassador, Eric Resteiner who is imprisoned in the United States.
Over the past few weeks in particular, the candidates of both sides were engaged in running a very intense campaign‹which Ambassador Ramdin called "good for democracy and for the people's participation in the process of electing a new government."
The OAS team numbered 37 international election observers, among them students from St. George's University in Grenada and from the University of the West Indies, as well as volunteers from the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States Embassy in Barbados.
The OAS Electoral Observation Mission also conducted final preparations that included training and final briefings for its team of international election observers.
