History of voting in The Bahamas

Photo credit Bahamas b2b

With just hours away from the general election It’s important to reflect on how far we’ve come as a country in terms of voting. Our current voting system is far from perfect and this has resulted in a loss in confidence in the system which of course leads to low voter turn outs. I’m aware that our current voting system has its flaws as it can still be considered archaic and construction papers aren’t ideal but I’m thankful that as a country we’ve progressed from laws that once upheld a corrupt electoral system.

Here are just a few of many moments in voting history that changed the way we vote today

In 1807 free black men were given the right to vote it would take over 100 more years for women to get the right to vote

The secret ballot act was instituted in Nassau in 1937 and then in 1942 in the family island’s. Before then according to bahmianology.com voting would go a little like this “Men would go in the room to vote. They would stand in the centre of the room with the candidates or their representatives sitting there watching. The male voter would say out loud who he was voting for.”

In 1962 Ruby Ann Cooper Darling was the first woman to register to vote in The Bahamas . The woman’s suffrage moment fought for the enfranchisement of women They wanted human rights and social services for every Bahamian

In 1959 the general assembly elections act was established and the property qualification for voting was abolished

January 10th 1967 Majority rule day one of the most important days in Bahamian history that represented the opportunity for real democracy in The Bahamas. This was a transition from minority government to majority rule.