The ID Card, the most sought-after product, has become one of the preferred forms of national identification for a growing number of service providers in the public and private sectors. This is just one of the tangible products that are produced from the Commission’s registration system. Other services and products available to the public include the four Lists of Electors (Annual, Preliminary, Revised and Supplemental), election-related results and reports, maps, public education products, renewals and replacements of ID Cards, regularization of registrations etc. In order to maintain an acceptable level of service to registrants the registration system is kept under surveillance to ensure it remains reliable.
A feature of which clients are constantly reminded when seeking particularly types of services, relates to mandatory field checks. These field checks require officers of the E&BC to go into the field (house-to-house if necessary), to validate information given by every person applying to be registered, or to have changes made to information given previously.
Customer service training continues to be an important activity of the Commission as it seeks to streamline its services to the public.
(i) An original Computer-generated Birth Certificate and copy (the Birth Certificate must be issued from the Registrar General’s Department).
(ii) Supporting Affidavit and copy (if name does not appear or correspond with that on the Birth Certificate).
(iii) A Marriage Certificate and copy (if a married woman).
(iv) A Deed Poll (if names being used differ from those on Birth Certificate).
For Citizens of Trinidad and Tobago (By Descent or otherwise)
(i) Original Birth Certificate and copy.
(ii) Appropriate documentation from the Immigration Division, Ministry of National Security attesting to citizenship.
(iii) Items (ii), (iii) and (iv) above apply.
For Commonwealth and non-Commonwealth Citizens
(i) The same as for Nationals in respect of (i) to (v) above, plus the appropriate documentation from the Immigration Division, attesting to residential status in Trinidad and Tobago.
(ii) Give only true and correct information to the registering officer as it is an offence punishable by law to give false information.
Eligibility to Vote
(i) A person is qualified to be an elector for an electoral district at a Parliamentary, Regional Corporation, Tobago House of Assembly, City or Borough election if on the qualifying date he has resided in that electoral district for a period of at least two months preceding the qualifying date, and
· is a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago of the age of eighteen years or upwards; or
· is a Commonwealth citizen of eighteen years and over who has resided in Trinidad and Tobago legally for a period of at least one year immediately preceding the qualifying date.
(ii) A non-Commonwealth citizen is qualified to be an elector for an electoral district at a City or Borough election if on the qualifying date:
· has resided in Trinidad and Tobago for a continuous period of at least five years immediately preceding such date; and
· has resided for a period of at least two months immediately preceding that date in that electoral district; or
· has resided within ten miles of the City or Borough for a period of at least twelve months immediately preceding that date, and during the period has owned or occupied property in the City or Borough of an annual rateable value of not less than sixty dollars.
Entitlement to Vote
Only persons eighteen (18) years and over are eligible to vote. Election Rule No. 36 states:
“No person shall be entitled to vote at a polling station for any polling division unless his registration record appears in the Unit Register of Electors for that polling division, or his name appears on the Revised List of Electors for that polling division.”
2. Renewal of Expired ID Card
Process:
(i) Take the expired ID card to the Registration Area office in the district where you live.
(ii) If your name has changed, provide documentary evidence such as a Marriage Certificate or Deed Poll.
(iii) Provide precise and reliable information on the location of your new address if you have changed address since your last transaction.
(iv) You may apply for a renewal three months before the expiry date recorded at the back of the ID card.
(v) Be prepared to be photographed for the new card.
3. Replacement of Lost, Stolen or Mutilated ID Card
(i) Report to any police station that the card was lost or stolen.
(ii) Visit the Registration Area Office where you live to be interviewed and issued with Form A-71 and a voucher. The Form is used to make a declaration, in the presence of a Commissioner of Affidavits, that the card was lost. The voucher is used to pay a fee of $10.00 for a first replacement or $20.00 for a second replacement, at a Revenue Office nearest to you.
(iii) The Form, stamped and signed by the Commissioner of Affidavits, together with the voucher and receipt issued by the Revenue Officer, are then taken back to the Registration Office for processing and replacement of the ID card.
(iv) Subsequently, a letter will be issued by the Registration Office to collect the card.
(v) With respect to a mutilated card, the declaration will be required only if the remains of the card cannot be produced.
4. Change of Address
Registered persons who change their residential address either within a Registration Area or from one Registration Area to another are required to notify the appropriate Registration Officer accordingly. It is critical that registrants discharge this responsibility, since, apart from assisting the Commission in its ongoing efforts to maintain an accurate register of electors, it also ensures that electors are placed in the correct polling division/electoral district. This transaction does not necessitate the issue of a new ID card.
5. Change of Name
Registered persons who change their names, primarily by marriage or Deed Poll, should notify their Registration Officer, so that the Commission’s records can be updated and a new I.D card bearing the registrant’s new name issued. The ID card bearing the name which has been changed is required to be surrendered.
6. Annual List of Electors - Inspection
An Annual List of Qualified Electors is published on July 1st every year and is available for inspection at all of the Commission’s Registration Area Offices and Sub-Offices. This List contains the names of electors qualified to vote at Parliamentary, Tobago House of Assembly and Municipal Corporation Elections, and is published in accordance with Section 29 (1) of the Representation of the People Act, Chap 2:01. All qualified electors are urged to make an earnest effort to examine the List to ensure that their names and addresses are correctly recorded. Any discrepancy should be promptly reported to the Registration Area Office.
The Commission’s Head Office
1. Sale of Election Reports, Boundaries Reports, Electoral Maps, Lists Of Electors
Steps required:
(i) Make request at the Stores Section, Central Electoral Office, Port-of-Spain or any Registration Area Office.
(ii) Take prepared Voucher and make payment at District Revenue Office.
(iii) Return to Stores Section with receipt showing payment was made, in order to receive the reports or maps.
Prices:
Reports: $50.00; Maps $20.00, $25.00, $30.00, $35.00
List of Electors: $3.00 per Polling Division – hard copy. $2.00 per Polling Division- soft copy (please provide medium. Eg. CD, DVD, Flashdrive)
2. Assigning A Symbol To A Political Party
Symbols are assigned on a written request to the Commission from a political party. The following should accompany the request:
1. Name of the political party;
2. Name of a responsible person in the party with whom contact may be made;
3. A contact number;
4. Mailing address;
5. Name of the Symbol;
6. Line drawing of the Symbol; and
7. Description of the Symbol.
The Commission will reply in writing.
3. Preparation of the Jury List (in accordance with the Jury Act)
Section 10(2) (d) of the Jury Act, Chapter 6:53 requires you, as an EMPLOYER, to make a return on the prescribed Form D (as shown below) of all persons in your employ who are qualified to serve as jurors, together with your own name if you are so qualified.
The Elections and Boundaries Commission’s, Jury Section, initiates the process of the compilation of the List of Qualified Jurors by sending out correspondence, a list of the Qualified Jurors of your company already on the Commission’s Database and instructions on the completion of the required forms indicating the deadline in which it you as the EMPLOYER are required to return same.
Qualifications for a juror
(i) Every person shall be qualified to be a juror who –
(a)
is over the age of eighteen years and under the age of sixty-five years;
(b) is ordinarily resident in Trinidad and Tobago;
(c) was born in Trinidad and Tobago; or, not being so born, has resided in Trinidad and Tobago for two years or more;
(d) is able to read and write the English language and understand the same when spoken; and
(e) is either –
(i) seised or possessed of freehold or leasehold interest in land of the clear annual value of seven hundred and twenty dollars; or
(ii) in occupation of a house which is rated or assessed to some general or local tax on an annual value of not less than six hundred dollars; or
(iii) in receipt beneficially of a net annual income of not less than three thousand dollars.
(ii)
Notwithstanding subsection (1), a married woman shall be qualified to be a juror if –
(a) her husband is qualified to be a juror; and
(b) she possesses the qualifications specified in subsection (1) (a) and (d).
Disqualification as a Juror
Every person shall be disqualified from being a juror who –
(a) has been convicted of an arrestable offence or any indictable offence not being an arrestable offence involving dishonesty in respect of which indictable offence such person has been sentenced to imprisonment;
(b) is of unsound mind, or imbecile or deaf, or blind or afflicted with any other permanent infirmity of body or mind; or
(c) is a bankrupt, or has entered into a deed of arrangement with his creditors.
Qualifications as a Special Juror
(i) Any person liable under section 3 shall be qualified and liable to serve as a special juror who is either -
(a) seised or possessed of freehold or leasehold interest in land of the clear annual value of eight hundred and forty dollars; or
(b) in occupation of a house which is rated or assessed to some general or local tax of an annual value of not less than seven hundred and twenty dollars; or
(c) in receipt beneficially of a net annual income of not less than six thousand dollars.
(ii) Notwithstanding subsection (1), a married woman who is qualified to serve as a juror under section 4(2), shall be liable to serve as a special juror, if her husband is qualified and liable to serve as such a juror.”
WARNING
It is important to note that in accordance with Section 10, sub-section (4) of the Act,
"An employer who-
(a) fails to make the return required by sub-section 2(d) within the period specified in the Demand Notice; or
(b) willfully makes an incorrect or incomplete return,
is liable on the summary conviction to a fine of One Thousand Dollars."
Should you require any further information, you are asked to communicate with any of the following officers of the Central Electoral Office:-
Mr. Mangaroo Ramphal,
Assistant Chief Election Officer | - Phone: 627-9825 |
Mrs. Zilpah Taylor-King,
Public Relations Officer
| - Phone: 625-8994 |
Mrs. Neisha Ali,
Research Officer | - Phone: 623-5832 (Ext. 248) |
| Jury Section | - Phone: 623-4622 (Ext. 262) |
or with the Registration Officer for your area.
This assistance is only available to employers who are required by Law to submit such information to the Commission.
Public Education and Public Relations
Students of the Woodbrook Government Secondary School receive their National ID Card during the
E&BC’s Secondary School Registration Programme
Consistent with its Mission Statement, the Public Education and Public Relations arm of the Commission keeps the public informed of the Commission’s over-arching constitutional responsibility to educate the general public about the importance of the franchise, the need to register as voters and about election procedures.
The Unit’s on-going public education mandate is facilitated by the phenomenal expansion in recent years of the commercial media network which now comprises 34 radio stations, 8 television stations, 3 weekly and 3 daily newspapers. The increasing use of mass media in the public and private sectors has greatly enhanced the working relationship between the Commission and the journalistic fraternity in Trinidad and Tobago.
Also in the realm of public education and information dissemination, the Unit has been receiving the co-operation of Government ministries and other agencies in the State sector, as well as private sector organizations such as banks and insurance companies. For example, some of the Commission’s information products are disseminated through the route of posters, brochures and via intranet facilities in the workplace of several organizations.
In collaboration with the Ministry of Education, the Unit is expanding its Secondary School Registration and Education Programme, following successful pilot projects in two of the largest schools in the capital city of Port of Spain. This was achieved by the Commission taking its registration system directly to the schools and delivering National Identification Cards to 150 students without them having the need to visit the offices of the Commission.
To date, approximately two thousand posters have been distributed throughout the school system, reminding students that they could obtain their Identification Cards from 15 years of age.
During the run-up to national elections, the period of electoral registration also presents an additional window of opportunity for the Unit to take its educational campaign to another level, as the population becomes more involved in pre-election activities.
With the commencement of electoral registration the Commission increases its voter-education programmes through the print and electronic media, urging electors to check the Lists of Electors to ensure that they are properly registered. “TO VOTE YOU MUST BE REGISTERED” is one of the slogans widely disseminated prior to and during the period of electoral registration.
Information can be obtained by contacting the unit through telephone numbers 1-868-625-5924,1-868-625-8994 or 1-868-623-4622, extension 258 are available.
Print:
How to register as a voter and obtain a National Identification card
Uses of the ID card
Get your ID card as early as age 15
Renew your ID card 2 months prior to the expiry date
Change of Residence
CD/DVD’s:
Election Offences
To Vote is Simple
Time-off for Voting
No Cell Phones in Polling Stations
Check your Poll Card
Check the List of Electors