GRAND BAHAMA, The Bahamas – The Local Government Junior Council Programme, now in its second year since the relaunch, attracted three additional schools and pulled off a smooth electoral process on October 17, 2024.

Forty-one schools in the Family Islands, nine in Grand Bahama and one school in New Providence, signed up this year, and with 6,540 students registered to vote the 476 candidates vying for the103 positions pulled out all the stops during the campaign leading up to election day.

The progamme is open to students from Grade 7-12 in both public and private schools and is designed to foster leadership among the students while engaging them in Local Government and the general election process.

Polls at participating schools throughout The Bahamas opened from 9:00am to 3:00pm, but not before yielding impressive voter turnout numbers.

The campuses bustled with excitement on October 17 as students geared up with voter's cards in hand to elect the candidates they believed could enhance their campus life experience.

In Grand Bahama, 120 students were registered to vote for the 7th and 11th grade candidates at Eight Mile Rock High; 281 students for their 7th-10th grade candidates at Bishop Michael Eldon High; 200 at Sunland Baptist Academy for the Grade 7-9 candidates, on account of the 12th grade candidates not being contested; 185 at Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Academy; 88 students at Grand Bahama Academy; 580 at St. George’s High; 500 at Sister Mary Patricia Junior High; 392 at Jack Hayward Junior High; and 400 registered at Jack Hayward Senior High.

Five additional schools in the Northern Bahamas, including four in Abaco and one in Bimini, also participated in the electoral process. When the votes were tallied, two schools, one in Grand Bahama and the other in Bimini, each produced a tie at one of the polling divisions which will be decided via a by-election within 14 days.

The Junior Councils will be given funding and a budget to assist with their projects, and receive guidance from school officials on budgeting and expenses.