As the Caribbean nation of Dominica works to overhaul its national electoral system, slow progress in key phases of the reform initiative has pushed the government to reach out to multiple leading regional and global bodies for specialized technical and expert support.
In an official statement released by the Office of the Prime Minister of Dominica (OPM), the government has submitted formal requests for guidance to four prominent institutions: the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Organization of American States, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, and the Caribbean Community. The appeal for outside support comes after growing public and administrative concerns over the sluggish pace and suboptimal execution of two core election modernization processes.
Speaking to journalists during a press briefing on Wednesday, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit outlined the core goals of the ongoing reform project: to modernize Dominica’s entire voting framework by updating voter registration verification protocols and rolling out a unified national voter identification card system. Skerrit emphasized that these changes are crafted to boost the accuracy and reliability of the country’s electoral roll, while adding robust new protections to prevent voter fraud and preserve the integrity of future elections.
Breaking down the current progress of the voter confirmation process, established under the updated Registration of Electors Act, Skerrit shared official data covering the period from October 15, 2025, through April 30, 2026. Over this six-and-a-half-month window, the Electoral Office received a total of 16,573 voter confirmation applications. More than 79% of these applications – 13,146 in total – were submitted within the first six weeks of the 12-month confirmation period, which runs from October 2025 to October 2026. Despite this early flood of submissions, by the end of April 2026, only 6,592 applications, equal to just 40% of the total received, had been fully processed and approved. That leaves nearly 10,000 applicants (9,981) still waiting for their registration confirmation, Skerrit confirmed.
Compounding the delay, no voters who have already secured confirmation have received their new national voter ID cards. Skerrit noted that the Electoral Office has announced it will not even begin issuing the new ID cards for another six to eight weeks, pushing the rollout of the core reform component further behind schedule.
The prime minister explained that the decision to solicit external expertise is not a sign of withdrawal from the reform process, but rather a recognition of the enormous scale and complex technical requirements of updating the electoral system. Building a fully accurate, secure voter register and a dependable national ID infrastructure demands specialized knowledge that the government is eager to source from established international electoral bodies.
The OPM further clarified the specific areas where the government is requesting assistance. First, external experts are asked to conduct a full, detailed review of the current voter confirmation process and identify bottlenecks slowing application processing. Second, the government is seeking actionable recommendations for the secure operation of the voter ID program, including guidance on integrating the new card system with Dominica’s existing electoral database, and ensuring the cards remain easily accessible to all eligible voters across the country.
Beyond process and technical fixes, Dominica’s authorities are also looking for guidance aligned with globally recognized electoral standards to improve three key pillars of the reform: overall transparency, public voter participation, and administrative efficiency. The broader support package will also include targeted training for electoral officials working on the ground, and expanded public awareness campaigns designed to build public trust in the new systems and encourage more eligible voters to complete the confirmation process.
Skerrit closed by reaffirming the government’s full commitment to seeing the reforms through, noting that the administration is ready to coordinate closely with all partnering institutions and provide any resources or access required to facilitate joint assessments and on-the-ground technical missions focused on getting the reform initiative back on track.