Qualification of Voters (Section 12 of the Elections Act)

A person shall be entitled to be registered as a voter and vote at an election if he or she:

(a) has attained the age of eighteen years;

(b) is not a person of unsound mind so found under any law in force in Montserrat;

(c) is a Commonwealth citizen;

(d) has resided in Montserrat for thirty-six months immediately preceding the date of registration as a voter or is domiciled in Montserrat and is resident therein at the date of such registration; and

(e) is not disqualified under this Act from being registered as a voter.

A person who is domiciled in Montserrat may, if he is not resident at the date of registration as a voter, nevertheless be registered as a voter and vote, if he is out of the country to follow a recognized course of full-time study or training and obtains a certificate to that effect from the Ministry of Education.

No person shall be registered as a voter or be entitled to vote at an election who has been sentenced by any court in Her Majesty’s dominions or in any territory under Her Majesty’s protection to death, penal servitude, or imprisonment for a term exceeding twelve months, and has not either suffered the punishment to which he was sentenced or such other punishment as by competent authority may have been substituted for the same or received a free pardon from Her Majesty.

Voting (Section 38 of the Elections Act)

No person shall be entitled to vote in any election unless his name appears on the list of voters and he is able to produce a passport or other document of identification with his photograph to prove that that name is his name.

Where a voter is unable to produce such a photo identification he may be permitted to vote if—

(a) he is known to the presiding officer and the presiding officer certifies his identity on the prescribed form or;

(b) he is known to a voter on the voting list for that polling station and that voter certifies his identity to the presiding officer and co-signs with the presiding officer on the prescribed form.

(2) Every person whose name appears upon the official list of voters for any polling station shall, (being able to produce a passport or other document of identification with his photograph to prove that that name is his name), be entitled to vote at that polling station notwithstanding that he is not resident in that area on polling day.

(3) Any person who—

(a) certifies that a person applying to vote is the person whose name appears on the voting list when in fact he is not that person;

(b) assists by any act or omission, any person seeking to impersonate any person whose name appears on the voting list,

shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to two years imprisonment.

Nomination of candidates (Section 22 (1) of the Elections Act)

By law, it is the duty of the Returning Officer to accept the nomination of any suitably qualified candidate for election on Nomination day and at the place identified to do so. The Returning Officer is available between the hours of 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. to receive nominations.