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Parliamentary Dept > Electoral Structure > Review of the Bahamian Electorial System
Parliamentary
A Review Of The Bahamian Electoral System
The Bahamas is a Parliamentary Democracy with an elected House of Assembly and an appointed Senate. The members of the House are elected to single member constituencies based on one person, one vote.
Candidates for election are usually members of political parties, though independent individuals may also contest elections. At the end of the day the Government is formed by the political party which has the support of the majority of the members elected to the House. The next largest party becomes the official opposition. The leader of the majority party becomes the Prime Minister and the leader of the second party becomes leader of the opposition. The Prime Minster heads the government and he appoints other members of his party or other persons to form a Cabinet. Together they become the Executive Branch of Government and are responsible for the running of the country for a five year period or until such time as he may decide, within the five year period.
The Parliamentary Registration Department in the Bahamas is responsible for all matters related to the registration of voters and the conduct of Elections in the country. The department is based in Nassau, the capital; from there, it manages all departmental affairs in New Providence, the principal island and in all the other islands of the Bahamas.
There are thirty (30) inhabited islands and these are separated by large expanse of sea. Travel to the islands can only be done by air or boat.
The number of officers would vary between periods of low activity and periods of high activity. The low activity periods would be those periods when no elections are pending, or no major registration drive is underway. All of the officers are public officers so they can be seconded or transferred to or from Departments depending on the need.
In the various districts in the islands the local administrators are representatives of the Parliamentary Commissioner and the Parliamentary Commissioner can do through them anything that he/she is authorized to do by law.
There are presently forty (40) seats in the Bahamian Parliament. This number can change from time to time. A Boundaries Commission meets every five (5) years and it makes recommendations to the Governor General as to how many seats should be in the assembly. In densely populated areas they would consider the number of persons in each constituency and try to create a population balance. In sparsely populated areas the geographical makeup and expanse of the area is also take into consideration.
The commission as constitutionally mandated, is chaired by the speaker of Parliament. Other members were: -
(i) A Justice of the Supreme Court recommended by the Chief Justice.
(ii) Two members of Parliament recommended by the Prime Minister and
(iii) One Member of Parliament recommended by the Leader of the Opposition.
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