Patterns in Electoral Turn-Out in General Elections, 1992?2005

• Author: Cynthia Barrow-Giles
• Pages: 9-52

Patterns in Electoral Turn-Out in General Elections 9

The Leeward Islands: Patterns in Electoral Turn-Out in

General Elections

Anguilla: An Overview

The political history of Anguilla in the post-1960 period has

certainly been very colourful. While the island was part of the

three-island federation of St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla, from as early as

1960, Anguillans demanded secession from the federation. In 1965,

the island sought direct administration from the colonial office,

preferring that arrangement to what they considered to be the unequal

treatment of Anguilla by the administration of St. Kitts. No doubt,

one of the factors underscoring the political imperative for separation

from the federation lay in the failure of the main political parties in St.

Kitts, the centre of the federation, to establish bases in Anguilla.

Secondly, Anguilla for all intents and purposes was a political appendage

of St. Kitts and therefore, for the most part, politics in the federation

was dominated by two political parties in St. Kitts — the St. Kitts

Labour Party (SKLP) and the People’s Action Movement (PAM). No

political party emerged in Anguilla, so the majority of Anguillan

political participation in the federation took the form of independent

candidates contesting the elections.

It was not however until May 30, 1967, after Anguillans expelled

Kittitian police officers from the island, that protracted negotiation

with the British for some form of direct protection by Britain over the

territory was pursued. In the aftermath of the expulsion of the police

PAT TERNS IN ELECTORAL TURN-OUT

IN GENERAL ELECTIONS,

1992–2005

CHAPTER 2

10 General Elections and Voting

officers, a 15-member group hastily constituted itself as a peace keeping

committee until July 1967. On July 11, 1967, the peacekeeping

committee held a referendum on the question of the future status of

the island in which nearly 2,000 people participated. The results of

the referendum in which five people rejected secession from the

federation, overwhelmingly showed Anguillan preference for separation

from St. Kitts-Nevis. It also highlighted the predominant anti-St. Kitts

sentiment on the island.1

Between 1967 and 1969 Anguilla ‘existed as an international

orphan . . .’ (Brisk 1969, 79), with Ronald Webster acting as the Chief

Minister of the Provisional Council which was established following the

successful referendum. Pressured by Anguilla, St. Kitts-Nevis (with Colonel

Bradshaw leading the charge) along with the international community

attempted to resolve the dispute between St. Kitts-Nevis and its sister

island of Anguilla. The ensuing constitutional and political crisis, forced

the British government to give Anguilla an ‘interim status’. Interim status,

essentially a temporary arrangement equivalent to direct association of

Anguilla to Britain, was culminated in February 1969.2 In March of that

year Britain sent in 315 Red Devil paratroopers to invade Anguilla.

The post-British invasion of Anguilla, resulted in the establishment

of the 1969 Commission of Inquiry by the British government to

investigate the Anguillan crisis. The Hugh Wooding Commission of

Inquiry recommended, among other things, that the political arrangement

among the three islands remain intact and that the British government

move as expeditiously as possible to re-assert the territorial integrity of

the federation. Confronted with this obvious anti-secession position,

Anguillans continued to resist any attempt to reimpose the pre-May

30, 1967 status. For its part, Britain continued to maintain its imperial

relationship with Anguilla, until 1971, four years after the start of the

constitutional crisis when the Anguilla Act was passed. The Act

essentially gave Britain full and effective control over Anguilla, thereby

restoring British colonial rule over the island. However, it was not

until December 1980 that the Anguilla Act was passed under which

Anguilla ceased to form a part of the territory of the Associated State

of St. Christopher (St. Kitts) Nevis and Anguilla.3

Patterns in Electoral Turn-Out in General Elections 11

Electoral Registration and Voting

Table 2:1

Anguilla: Patterns in Electoral Turn-Out in General Elections, 1972–1989

Source: Compiled from the Government of Anguilla Official Gazette, 1972, 1976, 1980,

1981, 1984, 1989 (The Valley, Anguilla: Government of Anguilla).

In 1972, Anguilla recorded its first individual general elections in

the period following separation from St. Kitts-Nevis. Table 2:1 shows a

low voter turn-out of 42.60 per cent. However, that figure is misleading

as three of the seven legislative seats were uncontested. The electoral

districts of Sandy Hill, Road North and West End returned Evans

Harrigan, Emile Gumbs and John Hodge unopposed to the legislative

council. The voters’ registration for the four contested constituencies was

therefore 2,232, with a voter turn-out of 65.3 per cent. While the total

number of unopposed seats declined in the 1976 general elections, the

pattern continued with only six of the seven legislative seats being

contested. The actual number of registered voters in the six contested

constituencies was 3,498. The voters’ turn-out in the six contested

constituencies was 77.9 per cent, a significantly higher figure than that

recorded in the first general elections of 1972.

It was not until the 1980 general elections that all legislative seats

were contested in Anguilla and as table 2:1 shows, that election also

witnessed the highest voter turn-out in that country. However, one

year later Anguillans returned to the polls to elect a new government,

and while there was a decline in voter turn-out, Anguilla on a whole

continued to experience relatively high voter turn-out. In terms of the

Election Year Registered

Voters

Total No. of

Votes Cast

% Electoral

Turn-Out

1972 3,420 1,457 42.60

1976 3,802 2,725 71.67

1980 3,507 2,776 79.1

1981 3,507 2,588 73.8

1984 3,733 2,594 69.5

1989 5,190 3,801 73.2