Bahamians are voting in General Elections today, Thursday 16 September 2021.
The incumbent Free National Movement (FNM) of Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis and the main opposition Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) headed by opposition Leader Phillip Davis are both fielding full slates of 39 candidates. The smaller Democratic National Alliance (DNA) is fielding 20 and there is a Coalition of Independents (COI) with 34 candidates. There are also 81 other independent candidates in the race.
Just over 194,000 Bahamians have registered to vote in today’s Elections. The last Elections held in May 2017 saw Prime Minister Minnis leading his FNM to a 35-4 victory over the then incumbent PLP, led at the time by former Prime Minister Mr Perry Christie.
A CARICOM Election Observation Mission, headed by Mr Ian Hughes of Antigua and Barbuda, is monitoring today’s Election Day activities including the opening of the polls, the voting process, closing of polls, counting and the management of the transmission of results.
Following the conclusion of the Election Day activities, a Preliminary Statement will be issued outlining the Mission’s observations followed by a detailed Report on the election to CARICOM Secretary-General Dr. Carla Barnett.
The Mission, which has been in the Bahamas from the 13 September, held consultations with key stakeholders in the run up to Election Day. These included the leadership of political parties, the police and civil society organisations.
