The closely watched Roseau North by-election in Dominica has moved one step closer to finalizing its outcome, with preliminary vote counts placing ruling Dominica Labour Party (DLP) candidate Ashma McDougall on track to claim the vacant parliamentary seat, overcoming challenges from opposition and independent contenders.
According to preliminary figures released after voting closed on September 7, McDougall secured 1,506 votes, outpacing United Workers Party (UWP) nominee Daniel “Danny” Lugay who earned 983 ballots. Independent candidate Sherman Boston finished third with 50 votes. An official statutory recount of all ballots got underway at 9 a.m. local time on September 8 to confirm the preliminary results.
McDougall’s projected win means the DLP will retain control of a constituency it first won in the 2022 December general election, where the party secured a landslide 19 out of Dominica’s 21 national parliamentary seats. The 2022 national vote was boycotted by both the UWP and the Dominica Freedom Party, which raised widespread concerns over the integrity of the island’s electoral system and refused to participate in national elections until comprehensive reform measures were implemented. Those reform efforts, including ongoing voter list verification and the rollout of new official voter ID cards, have proceeded alongside preparations for the Roseau North by-election triggered by the resignation of former DLP representative Miriam Blanchard.
While the preliminary result has given the DLP a projected victory, the polling process has already drawn multiple allegations of irregularities from voters and opposition-aligned observers. A Dominica News Online reporter on the ground at multiple polling locations, including the Goodwill St. Alphonsus Parish Hall, spoke with voters who raised red flags about polling day conduct. One elector claimed that Cecil Joseph, a prominent local media personality and manager of DBS Radio, was present inside the restricted polling station yard taking notes and collecting personal information from voters. The same voter also alleged that DLP supporters were allowed inside the restricted yard to gather voter data, while UWP supporters were confined to a tent outside the legally mandated 100-yard exclusion zone. She further reported a verbal confrontation with a man she identified as a DLP supporter at the site.
Contacted for comment at the Goodwill Primary School polling location, Joseph addressed the concerns over electoral conduct and voter verification processes directly. “That’s rather unfortunate if people do have concerns of the electoral process,” Joseph stated. He noted that calls for electoral modernization and voter list cleanup had been a central topic ahead of the by-election, leading parliament to approve an adjustment to verification rules that allows birth certificates paired with a passport-sized photograph to serve as an additional valid form of voter identification. In his view, there should be no confusion or contention over the multiple approved identity document options, arguing that voters should face no unnecessary barriers to casting their ballots.
Joseph also confirmed that election officials strictly enforce identity checks, sharing an example of a voter who was turned away from polling because the surname listed on his birth certificate did not match the name he commonly used.
Despite the official rule that new voter ID cards — currently being produced as part of the ongoing electoral reform process — would not be distributed on polling day, multiple reliable eyewitness accounts allege that at least one DLP supporter was privately issued a new ID card at the polling location. Another allegation claims that a DLP supporter told a voter who arrived without approved identification to go through the voting process anyway, promising the voter would receive $300 in compensation after casting a ballot.
In her first public statement following the release of preliminary results, McDougall posted to the official DLP Facebook page on the evening of September 7 to thank Roseau North constituents for their support. She pledged to “stay accessible, work hard, and be ready to serve whenever you need me” during her tenure as representative.
A businesswoman by profession, McDougall centered her campaign platform on targeted community improvements across Roseau North, particularly in the Gutter neighborhood. Her key promises included upgrading footpaths and access routes, overhauling outdated drainage systems, improving public sanitation and waste collection services. She also committed to expanding community recreational and training facilities for children, young people and adult learners, addressing unmet local housing needs, and maintaining transparent, consistent communication with all constituents.