CARIBBEAN TODAY


U.S. official v


 promises to review CARICOM leaders announce


promisess to review CARICOM leaders announce


c7AiICMscrime fighting needs


BRIDGETOWN, Barbados,
CMC A high-ranking
United States official has
urged Caribbean governments
to identify what they need to
deal with the growing crime
problem in the region.
 Assistant Secretary of
State for the Western
Hemisphere Ambassador
Thomas Shannon told the
Caribbean Media Corporation
(CMC) that as Caribbean
community (CARICOM)
leaders prepared for their spe-
cial Crime and Security
Summit in Port-of-Spain, they
should compile a list of their
pressing needs.
 "We're going to be look-
ing to Caribbean countries to
help us understand that (crime
problem) better. We hope to

 Fraud case c


 delayed in

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC -
Attorneys for embattled
Jamaican parliamentarian
Kern Spencer, who is charged
in connection with the Cuban
light bulb scandal, have
expressed concern about the
delay in the start of the for-
mer minister's trial.
 Spencer who is facing
fraud charges related to the
controversial project appeared
in court late last month, but
the prosecution made a suc-
cessful submission for more
time to present its case.
 The Director of Public


 Caribbean
 DR. MARCIA MAGNUS
For immigrants, one of
 the disadvantages of
 moving to a new country
that has a different political
system is that we often auto-
matically transfer expectations
from our native country to
the host country.
 Many Caribbean
American immigrants who
were ready to cast their ballot
for their presidential candi-
date on Jan. 29, 2008 got a
surprise they could not vote
for their presidential candi-
date because they were regis-
tered as independents! They
had no party affiliation.
 To vote on all ballot ques-
tions, including the presiden-
tial question, in any primary
election, you need to have a
party affiliation. You need to
be either a declared Democrat
or a Republican.
 If you are registered to
vote as an "independent" with
no party affiliation, if you do


be able to
have a conver-
sation with our
Caribbean
partners to get
their under-
standing of
how we can
better help Shannon
them," he told
CMC after meeting with
Barbadian Prime Minister
David Thompson in
Bridgetown.

AID
 The U.S. has pumped
$170 million into initiatives in
the Eastern Caribbean over
the past three years and
this year the U.S. State
Department said it had bud-
geted an estimated $1.6 mil-


lion to help those countries
boost technical and material
capacity in maritime security
and law enforcement.
 However, Shannon
acknowledged there was still
more to be done.
 "We need to put more
resources into the region and
that's the bottom line. A lot of
Caribbean countries are
expending a lot of their budg-
et on security issues...and we
need to recognize that and
help out," he said.
 "So we'll be working with
our Congress to make sure
that as our budgets go forward
we have the resources we
need to help our Caribbean
partners."
0


against Jamaica ex-minister

i Cuban light bulb scandal


 Prosecutions
 (DPP) Paula
 Llewelyn told
 the court that
 the Crown
 was not yet in
 a position to
 hand over the
 relevant docu- Spencer
 ments to the
 defense and
 an adjournment until May 16
 was granted in the high-profile
 matter.
 "We have to get our case
 together. We have to deal with
 certain matters and it's usually


American vo
 not declare a party affiliation,
 you will not able to vote on
 the presidential ballot ques-
 tion in future primary elec-
 tions (usually in January), you
 need to declare a party affilia-
 tion by July 25, 2008.
 There are two ways to
 declare your party affiliation.
 First, you can pick up and fill
 out a new voters' registration
 application, indicate a party
 change, and mail the completed
 form to the Supervisor of
 Elections office. Or you can
 download the form and mail it
 to the Supervisor of Elections
 office in your county. (The fol-
 lowing are contacts for offices in
 Miami-Dade, Broward and
 Palm Beach counties in Florida:)
 www.miamidade.gov/elections
 305-499-8683
 www.browardsoe.org 954-357-
 7050
 www.pbcelections. org 561-
 656-6200

 As an independent regis-
 tered voter, you will still be


a courtesy that is given on
many occasions in many cases
and the Crown regards this as
it would any other case," she
said after emerging from
court.
 The decision did not sit
 well with Spencer's legal team,
 which argued that the delay
 was too long.
 "There is nothing for us to
 do. We can't prepare a defense
 because we don't know what
 the charges are," contended
 attorney Deborah Martin.



ters' alert
able to vote for a presidential
candidate in the November
presidential election. But
don't be caught unaware in
the next primary presidential
election. Declare your party
affiliation now so that you
won't have another surprise.
Do it now and get it over
with!
See you at the polls!

Dr. Marcia Magnus is chair-
person of Caribbean-
American Politically Active
Citizens, a group of
Caribbean Americans who
are committed to increasing
voter turnout. Members are
non-partisan and, based on
the recommendations of a
panel of advisors, make rec-
ommendations on which can-
didates and issues would be
most beneficial to Caribbean
Americans in South Florida.
For more information, call
954-454 -7473.
0


plans for June confab in N.Y.


NASSAU, The Bahamas,
CMC Caribbean communi-
ty (CARICOM) leaders have
announced that they will hold
a conference in the United
States in the next three
months, which will coincide
with the Conference of the
Caribbean which was held in
Washington on June 20, 2007.
 At the closing press con-
ference of the 19th Inter-ses-
sional Summit of the
Conference of Heads of
Government here last month,
chairman and host Prime
Minister Hubert Ingraham
said leaders took the decision
to accept an invitation from
the chairman of the Ways and
Means Committee of the U.S.
House of Representatives,
Congressman Charles Rangel
to have the meeting in New
York.
 "It's called the New York
Conference of the Caribbean
Community 2020 Vision
Continued", Ingraham said.
 "We expect to meet with
the mayor of New York, the
governor of New York state
and business leaders to dis-
cuss trade and investment,


culture, education and other
issues of interest and concern
to the region."
 Congressman Rangel,
who is regarded as a friend of
the Caribbean, was instru-
mental in organizing the 2007
conference at which the lead-

and Barbuda,
The Bahamas,
Barbados,
Belize,
Dominica,
Grenada,
Guyana, Haiti,
Jamaica, St.
Kitts and Rangel
Nevis, St. Rangel
Lucia, St.
Vincent and the Grenadines,
Suriname and Trinidad and
Tobago met with U.S.
President George W. Bush.
At that meeting the leaders
reaffirmed their unequivocal
commitment to a secure and
prosperous region and future
for the benefit of all
Caribbean and U.S. citizens.
 The New York meeting
will be held over two days
from June 19 to 20.
0


residential elections are
 held every four years in
 the United States. This
process was set up in the U.S.
Constitution. The constitution
requires a candidate for the
presidency to be:
* At least 35 years old
* A natural born citizen of the
 U.S.
* A resident of the U.S. for 14
 years
 So how does one become
president of the United States?
The following steps outline the
general process for presidential
elections.

Step I: Primaries and caucuses
 There are many people
who would like to become
president. Each of these peo-
ple have their own ideas about
how our government should
work. Some of these people
can belong to the same political
party. That's where primaries
and caucuses come in. In these
elections, party members get to
vote for the candidate that will
represent their party in the
upcoming general elections.

Step 2: National conventions
 At the end of the primaries
and caucuses, each party holds
a national convention to final-
ize the selection of one presi-
dential nominee. During this
time, each presidential candi-
date chooses a running-mate
(or vice-presidential candidate).

Step 3: The general (or popu-


lar) election
 Now that each party is rep-
resented by one candidate, the
general elections process
begins. Candidates campaign
throughout the country in an
attempt to win the support of
voters. Finally in November, the
people vote for one candidate.
 When a person casts a vote
in the general elections, they
are not voting directly for an
individual presidential candi-
date. Instead, voters in each
state actually cast their vote for
a group of people, known as
electors. These electors are part
of the Electoral College and
are supposed to vote for their
state's preferred candidate.

Step 4: The Electoral College
 In the Electoral College
system, each state gets a cer-
tain number of electors, based
on its population. Each elector
gets one electoral vote. For
example, a large state like
California gets 54 electoral
votes, while Rhode Island gets
only four. All t< ili, r, there
are 538 electoral votes.
 In December (following
the general elections), the elec-
tors cast their votes. When
the votes are counted in
January, the presidential candi-
date that gets more than half
(270) wins the elections.

- Ben's Guide to U.S.
Government for Kids.
0


Deciding U.S. presidential elections


April 2008


P