BRIDGETOWN, Barbados--Prime Minister Mia Mottley has rejected claims by Democratic Labour Party political leader Ralph Thorne that the upcoming general election was called too soon.
Thorne, speaking at the DLP’s islandwide rally on Saturday, suggested that the election call had created “disarray” because, according to him, the voters’ list – due on January 31 – had not yet been finalised by the Electoral and Boundaries Commission (EBC).
“As you know, January 31 has not come, so before that statutory period has arrived, an election has been called, which has thrown the whole thing into disarray…the election has been called before the list has been completed, and that is wrong,” Thorne said. However, while canvassing at the R&B Bar in St John later that evening, Mottley urged the opposition leader to “read the law”.
She cited Section 13(1) of the Representation of the People Act, which states that “the commission shall cause to be prepared and shall publish not later than the 31st of January in every year, a register of electors for each constituency and a register of foreign service electors entitled to vote at any election”.
“That register was published on the 15th of January, before I announced the election last weekend, and therefore constituted the official 2026 register. So let us first of all put aside that misinterpretation of what the law actually says. Having said that, once an election is called, preliminary lists are published,” Mottley said.
She reminded the public that fewer than 48 hours remained for persons who were not on the list or who needed to update their place of residence to do so.
Mottley also again rejected allegations that anomalies in the voters’ list were linked to any “partisan consideration”.
“In every election since 1991, there have always been anomalies. What has happened, therefore, is nothing that is unique or any partisan consideration. I heard him when he said that (late Prime Minister David) Thompson’s family, some of them, were off, but I also want to say that (former BLP MP) Gline Clarke’s children were also off. Therefore, this can in no way be any kind of partisan action. That is why we have been saying continuously, check the list,” she said.
Thorne has suggested that the general election set for February 11 was called prematurely, arguing that the Electoral and Boundaries Commission (EBC) had not completed its statutory work or properly met before the announcement.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday on the sidelines of the party’s rally and bus tour, Thorne said correspondence from the EBC indicated the commission had until January 31 to provide an updated voters’ list.
“As you know, the 31st of January has not come, so before that statutory period has arrived, an election has been called, which has thrown the whole thing into disarray,” Thorne said. “So the election has been called before the list has been completed, and that is wrong.”
He said the commission has not met since the election was announced, adding that a scheduled meeting was later cancelled. “Do you know that since this election has been called, the Electoral and Boundaries Commission has not met once?” he asked. “There was a meeting scheduled… that meeting has been cancelled.”
Thorne said a properly functioning commission should have been meeting regularly in preparation for an election that was constitutionally due in 2027.
“A properly functioning Electoral and Boundaries Commission should have been meeting all of last year in preparation for an election which was always going to be constitutionally due in 2027,” he said.
The opposition leader also raised concerns about what he described as irregularities in the voters’ list, noting that the DLP had protested the list containing some 8,291 names marked for removal from the national register of electors as part of a major clean-up following Barbados’ first full enumeration exercise in more than 30 years.
“We have until Monday – as you know, we protested about that list which contained 8,291 persons,” Thorne said. “I’m going to repeat that one of our candidates was on the list. There are several Barbadians who continue to complain that they are not on the list.”
He further claimed that relatives of a former prime minister were among those affected.
“I have now the permission to say that a close relative of former, now deceased Prime Minister David Thompson… has also been excluded from the list,” Thorne said. “They live in Barbados, and they’ve been taken off the list.”
Thorne said there were also cases where members of the same family appeared in different constituencies.
“We have situations of families – one member of the family is in one constituency and the other member of the family is in an adjoining constituency,” he said. “There are several irregularities attending this list.”
He argued that the timeframe being given to resolve the issues was insufficient.
“To give people until one day to clear those irregularities, that is not enough time,” Thorne said, adding that the party was encouraging supporters to visit its offices to address any discrepancies.
“But we are urging our people to come into our offices and to have the question of those irregularities resolved,” he said. Thorne also expressed concern about the independence of the commission, suggesting that outside influence may be at play.
“There’s a lot going wrong, and we can see it,” he said. “The commission is not being allowed to be. I will repeat the charge that it must be that somebody is manipulating that commission.”
Despite his concerns, Thorne said the party remains focused on campaigning. “We are going to continue to work among the people,” he said. “Let the public be assured that all 30 of our candidates are working in their constituencies.” ~Barbados Today~
