MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands’ ballot paper will not have any serial number or identifying marks

Several mobile teams will ensure that every Islander has the chance to vote

The referendum about whether or not Falkland Islanders wish the Falkland Islands to maintain their current status as an overseas territory of the United Kingdom is less than a week away and the Registrar General has made some announcements on the March 10/11 world event.

The world will be watching the referendum and there will be international observers here to ensure that the referendum is free and fair. We are making some small but important changes to the way we carry out the referendum to make sure that the process is, and is seen by the world to be, demonstrably fair and open.

To achieve that, the ballot paper will not have any serial number or any individually identifying marks on it; the only mark on it will be the official seal. This ensures there can be no suggestion that voting may be influenced by the possibility, however remote, that a vote could be linked back to the person casting the vote.

Also, to minimise the risk of a person being able to vote more than once, voters will be allocated a polling station (either static or mobile) at which they will be expected to vote (this will be based on the address which they are currently registered at). In practice this will not affect most people, who will simply vote at the place they have always done.

However, if the allocated polling station is not a convenient place to vote, the voter can let us know, and arrangements will be made for them to vote at another polling station.

Each voter will have been sent a letter which told them which polling station they have been allocated to vote at. Don’t worry if you will not be staying at that address during the referendum and want to vote somewhere else – simply contact the Registry and let the Registrar General know where you will be during the referendum and you will be allocated the most convenient polling station instead.

If, on the day, you cannot get to your allocated polling station – don’t worry – you will still be able to vote at any polling station – but there may be a short delay while the polling staff ensure that the allocated polling station knows you have voted. (PN)