EBC: Special electors can vote Monday

THE Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) on Friday said it retrieved all incorrectly endorsed ballot papers for special electors and issued new ballot papers for those electors.

The EBC said the Government Printer will be asked to destroy the defective ballot papers and provide certification when this is done.

In doing that, the EBC said it maintained strict adherence to the election rules and averted a situation "that could have potentially, negatively impacted" the December 2 local government elections. In a statement, the EBC said the collection of the ballots and arrangements for special electors to vote on Monday remained on target. The EBC said no person who applied to be treated as a special elector has collected any of the ballot papers. The collection process begins on Saturday.

Contrary to statements made by some political parties in the media, the EBC said, "As such no special elector has been adversely affected."

The EBC said the chief election officer was made aware on Wednesday that some returning officers deviated from the prescribed procedure. That procedure required returning officers to affix their initials at the back of the ballot paper and nothing else. The EBC said some officers admitted to writing polling station numbers on the back of the papers, the word "special" or "SP" in addition to their initials.

The commission noted the concerns of some political parties but assured the incident would not affect the election.

The Opposition UNC claimed the defective ballots were destroyed without the political parties being present to witness it. However, the commission has maintained the ballots have not yet been destroyed.

At a news conference at its Couva headquarters on Friday, UNC general secretary Davendranath Tancoo said, "I call on the EBC to cease and desist immediately from its destruction of the thousands of ballots they have seized." He reiterated the UNC's call to the EBC to provide legal justification for its reliance on Rule 22 (7) of the Representation of the People Act to destroy the defective ballots.

Tancoo called on the EBC to immediately invite all parties participating in the December 2 poll to a meeting to discuss the issues and reach consensus on the way forward. He said the UNC was keeping its legal options open if the EBC did not heed its call.

Tancoo claimed the incident did not instil confidence in the EBC.

PNM general secretary Foster Cummings said, "We are confident that the EBC will rectify this issue in keeping with the Representation of the People Act."

He added, "The EBC has demonstrated over time the capacity to conduct free and fair elections in TT."

MSJ political leader David Abdulah did not know whether the defective ballots were destroyed. While it would have been ideal for the destruction of the ballots to be witnessed by party representatives, Abdulah said the EBC would have to provide certification that the ballots were destroyed. Saying the MSJ had candidates in ten districts which had defective ballots, Abdulah said the whole situation was very disturbing.