Dear Editor,
I’ve watched and listened to many elections results, but none has ever captured my attention like the recently held elections of Monday, August 19, 2024. Previously, I focused mostly on which parties acquired enough votes to come into consideration for serious negotiations, the allocation of seats, and which candidates were selected to become part of the legislature.
But when Chairlady Nathalie Tackling of the Main Voting Bureau announced the preliminary findings in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, and indicated that objections could be made on the following Monday, I was curious to see which party would challenge the outcome.
Monday, August 26, arrived and MPs Omar Ottley (UP), Silveria Jacobs (NA) and candidate Chris Weaver (URSM), took the opportunity to express their observations at several polling districts and then asked that these stations be looked into, to clarify any misconceptions.
Knowing this, I was extremely grateful that these requests were made and granted, because I learnt a great deal about the mechanisms of the Main Voting Bureau, through this recounting process. I had no interest in this process before, until the Chairlady explained some of the procedures, and at the same time, she connected the laws that reinforced the process, which ultimately uphold the integrity of the Bureau.
Even though in the initial stage there were just a few polling stations slated to be recounted, eventually this initiative was changed to the recounting of all 20 polling stations. This was done primarily to maintain the practices of transparency and integrity. I deeply appreciated this persistence to validate any error and to have everything squared off, in order to present a more accurate result in the end.
Throughout the three long days, I enjoyed the non-stop humor and the camaraderie amongst the group, which exhibited the leadership skills of Chairlady Nathalie Tackling. But her subordinates were very attentive. When an error was made, due to the tedious procedure, they assisted quickly to avoid any misconceptions and kept the process moving.
As the hours seemed to crawl, what a brilliant shift by Chairlady Nathalie Tackling to speed up the counting process, by involving the entire group to open all the packets of a specific polling station at once, rather than having one member assigned to that specific task.
Despite the many teaching moments that occurred throughout the recounting of the ballots across all polling districts, the highlight of this entire exercise was when I watched all of the members sit on the floor opening the packets like little children. This was the icing on the cake!
When I saw this, I rolled several times on my bed and laughed out loud and said to myself, “I’ve never seen this before. This is not happening for real, on live television.” You all really made my day, just to watch that unusual display. Even now writing this article, I’m dying with laughter. It was so funny! It’s a sight that I will never forget.
All jokes aside. But on the flipside of this interesting task, it has really underscored the leadership skills of Chairlady Nathalie Tackling. If her face wasn’t familiar to the viewing public, it was difficult to identify who was in charge, because every member was working together as a unit, and the Chairlady did not display any form of seniority. This is an image that will stay with me for a lifetime.
Regarding the bet as to what time the final count would have been, I was on target with the approximate time of 11:45pm. So, Madam Chairlady, you owe me some snacks! In the meantime, continue to educate and always preserve the principles of transparency and integrity.
Joslyn Morton
