Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands — Supporters of the governing political party of the Turks and Caicos Islands—the Progressive National Party (PNP)—were celebrating Friday evening after the party won the country’s general elections in a sweeping victory against the People’s Democratic Movement (PDM).
The PNP, led by current Premier Hon. Washington Misick, won 16 of the 19 available seats in the archipelago. The results were similar to their 2021 win in the British Overseas Territory and popular vacation destination for Canadian, American, and UK travelers (when they won 14 of 15 seats). The PDM, led by Hon. Edwin Astwood, leader of the Opposition, won two seats (his included).
The final results were announced at 1:58 AM this morning. Crime, cost of living, and the economic well-being of Turks and Caicos Islanders were major election talking points for both parties, in response to widespread concern over rising gun violence and an acute lack of affordable housing on the main island of Providenciales.
Of note is that Hon. E. Jay Saunders, the former Deputy Premier (until he was unceremoniously fired by the Premier Hon. Washington Misick in early 2024), won the overall most votes in the election, and the highest ever for an individual candidate at 4,614.
South Caicos also elected independent candidate Tamell Seymour, in an apparent rejection of the two mainstream political parties.
Notably, this was the first election for the Turks and Caicos Islands to tally votes using DS200 voting machines.
“The main thing from an electoral process perspective was ensuring that voters understood the new system with the electronic tabulation," Governor Dileeni Daniel-Selvaratnam, who visited polling stations across the islands, told local media company Radio Turks and Caicos.
The popular electronic scanner has been used in several countries to improve the efficiency of paper-based voting. It has also drawn criticism in the United States over its alleged vulnerability to cyberattack.
Supervisor of Elections Dudley Lewis said all recounts for the election would be done manually. The general elections are also being monitored by Citizens Action for Free and Fair Elections (CAFFE), an elections monitoring group from Jamaica requested by the Turks and Caicos Islands Governor’s Office to independently observe voting and counting.
There are 9,385 registered voters in the Turks and Caicos Islands, an island nation of approximately 47,720 people. Less than 20 percent of residents have the right to vote.
Turks and Caicos Islander Status (previously titled Belongership) is a requirement to vote in the country’s elections, and is generally not obtainable for the majority of the island's residents, leaving them permanently disenfranchised.
The Turks and Caicos Islands is located between the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic. It is a constitutional monarchy, and self-governed by a locally elected government. A governor appointed by the British monarchy serves as a representative of the head of state, His Majesty King Charles III.