By LISA S. KING

FN Asst. Editor

lisa@nasguard.com

Approximately 71 persons have been nominated to contest the upcoming Local Government elections for the West Grand Bahama district, giving a strong indication that many residents in that area are more than ready to cast their votes.

According to Rufus John-son, Administrator for the West Grand Bahama district, this year's election race is expected to be very ' competitive' as the number of persons running increased by five on Nominations Day, which was held on Wednes-day at the Administrator's Office.

Originally, there were 66 candidates who were vying for the four townships in the district, now it seems like things will certainly get hot when Local Government elections take place on August 19,

Results from the recent Nomination Day reveal two persons nominated for the West End township, one person nominated for the Pinder's Point Township and two persons nominated between the two Eight Mile Rock Townships. Surpris-ingly, one person withdrew his nomination from the elections.

The two persons nominated for the West End Township are Lashae Colton and Jona-than Carey. Nominated for Eight Mile Rock were Shiela Grant and Burton Pinder. Nominated for the Pinder's Point Township was Lorna Knowles. Withdrawing his nomination was Kevin Clarke, a resident of Hepburn Town.

A month ago, voting for the 2008 Local Government elections in West Grand Bahama was postponed after a Su-preme Court judgement ruled that former Lands and Local Government Minister Sidney Collie and Parlia-mentary Commissioner Errol Bethel acted illegally in their preparation for the election. The matter came up after several persons accused the men of failing to properly gazette notices for the event.

In addition to West Grand Bahama, the court ruling, which was handed down on the eve of the June 26 elections, affected voting in Acklins, Mangrove Cay, Hope Town, Crooked Island, Central Andros, Bimini, Exuma and Mayaguana.

Administrator Johnson said despite the delay of Local Government elections for West Grand Bahama, the majority of residents are very pleased with the new date and seem very interested in what will take place.

"I think that there will be a very active Local Govern-ment election for West Grand Bahama this year," Johnson said. "And I certainly believe that it will be very competitive with the increasing amount of candidates we now have."

Confident that residents of West Grand Bahama will fully participate on August 19, Johnson advises eligible voters to exercise their voting right wisely.

"They should know the persons who live in their communities" he said. "They should determine whether these persons are really serious about the community and are prepared to give up of their time, or are community oriented.

"I believe that there are people in the West Grand Bahama district who really want to see changes and they are prepared to vote for those changes. I also want to remind those voting at the various polling stations that they ought to bring their voters card and if they don't have their voter's card, and they are registered in a particular polling division, then they have to bring some form of photo identification like a passport or driver's licence."

Other persons currently nominated to contest positions in the West Grand Bahama district are as follows: West End and Bimini town area – Polling division one: Deloris Frith, Franchelle Jones, Quentin Moore, Philip Smith, Frederick Swann and Morton Wilchcombe Sr. Polling division two: Jerrisma Adderley, Michael Garvey, Mark Greene, Constance Hanna, Edna Hanna, Cardinal Roberts and Jerreth Rolle. Polling division three: Jeffrey Albury, Arvell McKenzie, Marvin McQueen, Kingsley Smith Jr. and Morton Wilchcombe Jr.

Eight Mile Rock West town area – Polling division 4: Holmes Rolle, Kem Stuart, Threason Stuart and Lorenzo Walker Jr. Polling division 5: Sophia Dean, Joyan McIntosh-Stuart, Kevin Morris and Gilbert Robinson. Polling division 6: Derick Delancey, Natasha Francis, Tyrone Lawrence and Christopher Rigby. Polling division 7: Joanna Forbes, Clifford Outten, Glendino Moultrie and Samuel Scott.

Eight Mile Rock East town area – Polling division 6: Harold Curry, Charles Rolle and Carnetta Rollins. Polling division 7: Sean Robinson, Lindy Russell and Oniel Wildgoose. Polling division eight and nine: Rosney Cooper, Ethel Jones and Jaret Russell. Polling division 10 and 11: Tinessa Carey, Cheryl Forbes, Vandyke Hepburn, Auttea Lightbourne, Roscoe Kemp and James Vega. Polling division 12: Calvis Bartlett, Perry Charlton and Yannick Rogers.

Pinder's Point town area – Polling division 13B: Wilfred Bevans, Bernadette Johnson, Simon Lewis, Thaddeus Lewis, Georgianna Russell and Jacqueline Russell. Polling division 7B: Ann Russell. Polling division 1: Wayne Forbes, Linda Russell, Maydone Russell and Ruth Russell. Polling division 2: Marjorie Darville and Claudine Laing.