by YVETTE BEST

BARBADOS is spearheading a move to establish a regional body for electoral workers.

Speaking after celebrating mass with her Guyanese and Antiguan counterparts at Christ Church Parish Church yesterday, president of the Barbados Electoral Staff Association, Evril Small, said plans were to establish a regional body so the systems and the way of doing things could be uniform.

The local association was established in 2004 and members visited sister organisations in St Lucia and Antigua in 2005 and 2006 respectively.

Small said the Barbadian group was hosted by Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer at a cocktail reception and cultural presentation.

She said Spencer pledged his support for the formation of a regional body. The idea of a regional body also came up at a meeting in May last year, which was attended by the chief electoral officers of Barbados, Antigua and St Lucia and other senior officials.

Noting that there was a regional body in the Spanish-speaking countries, Small said one of the difficulties in establishing a similar body in the English-speaking Caribbean was that in many cases there were no formal structures or commissions.

She explained that in those instances workers came together around election time.

That being the case, the local president said she still wanted those countries on board so that they could learn how the established systems worked.

In addition to the umbrella body, Small said they were also looking to establish a secretariat, where workers could move between the countries on exchange attachments.

The workers from Antigua and Guyana were being feted by the local workers since last Friday. An island tour, brunch, picnic and a reception were among activities they have been engaged in.