Candidates in 'final push'

KIMBERLY Small, People's National Movement (PNM) candidate in today's by-election in Barataria, was making a final push when contacted 90 minutes before the close of polls.

"Everything's good. We working! We working!" she effused.

"People are coming out." She remarked on the good weather that had largely prevailed today, in contrast to some heavy showers in the days before election day.

"We are just making our final push up to six o'clock."

For United National Congress (UNC) candidate Sharon Maraj-Dharam, Princes Town MP Barry Padarath said in some areas the turnout was higher than in the last local government election, and he hoped this would favour Maraj-Dharam.

"At some polling stations the numbers have been exceeding the turnout of 2016. Those are numbers that are encouraging," Padarath said.

"We still have almost an hour and a half of voting to go again. It is encouraging to see some of the polling divisions actually out in larger numbers that in the 2016 local government election

"We'll wait and see what is the outcome among those polling divisions that have increased in a by-election."

Progressive Empowerment Party (PEP) candidate Christoph Samlal at 5 pm told Newsday that since this morning he had seen no new developments in the voting process in Barataria. He said the party had filed complaints to two local presiding officers and to the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) head office in Port of Spain about campaign posters and graffiti near polling stations.

"We have just finished going to all our stations and dropping off dinner for the agents. We are now heading to the party headquarters at Stanmore Avenue (Port of Spain) to await the final results."