Frenzied last-minute voter-registration of hundreds of Grenadians was underway nationwide on Monday, following the announcement that general elections will be held next month.

Dr Keith Mitchell, prime minister and leader of the New National Party (NNP), used a weekend St Andrew meeting of his party to announce Thursday, June 23, as election day across Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique.

“All elections are about choices,’’ Mitchell said, urging his supporters to return the NNP to office. “We’re asking you to keep this nation in the safest hands.’’

Prior to the meeting, held Sunday in Telescope, Dr Mitchell had indicated that he was planning to use the day to make a “major’’ announcement. Many speculated that the announcement was going to be the election day announcement; or – as the prime minister often referred to the announcement – as the moment that he’ll “ring the bell’’.

As has been the case for the last three decades, the main contenders in the contest at winning the polls and forming the next government are the NNP and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

The NDC has failed to win a seat in any of the two previous elections, in 2013 and 2018. However, party members and supporters are optimistic of a change of fortune with 44-year-old lawyer Dickon Mitchell now leading the NDC.

Dickon Mitchell, a first-time politician, is running in St David, trying to unseat incumbent Oliver Joseph. He has been MP since 2013 and has served in several high-profile cabinet positions, including Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Should Dickon Mitchell and the NDC prevail and form the government, he’ll be the youngest prime minister since Maurice Bishop, who was 34, when he became leader in the People’s Revolutionary Government in 1979.

“On the 23^rd of June, you have a stark choice,’’ Mitchell said last Sunday at an NDC town hall meeting in St David. “The choice between ideas and mamaguism. The choice between a team and one-manism.’’

The NDC leader has made some bold promises including committing, as prime minister of an NDC administration, to embarking on building a modern health facility; eliminating poverty; instituting twice-a-month payment of salaries, instead of the current monthly payment; providing housing for all Grenadians; setting up a technical training centre in every parish; opening a tourism school; and having an aeronautics school at the former Pearl’s Airport site in St Andrew.

“If you vote us in,’’ Mitchell has said, “and we don’t do the things we say we are going to do, even I will be telling you five years from now, vote us out.’’

Dr Mitchell, the longest-serving prime minister in the Caribbean, will be 76 in November. This campaign, which ends next month, is his final, he said.

“I mean it,’’ Dr Mitchell said on Sunday. “My campaign, for me, is my run for the road.’’

He urged supporters to “do the right thing’’ and return the NNP to government office. “We’re asking you to keep this nation in the safest hands,’’ he said.

“Let tonight be the night that we renew our hope in the future,’’ said Dr Mitchell, who will be seeking reelection as MP for St George North-West. He’s represented the constituency in parliament since 1984.

“Let tonight not be remembered just as a campaign rally; let it go down in history as a serious benediction.’’

As happened in the past, members of the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF) will be casting ballots in advanced polling, ahead of the rest of the nation. RGPF officers will vote on Monday, June 20.