EBC seeks legal advice on defective ballots

A nurse who is a special elector enters the EBC office on Fifth Street, Barataria, on Monday to cast her vote ahead of next week's local government elections. - SUREASH CHOLAI
A nurse who is a special elector enters the EBC office on Fifth Street, Barataria, on Monday to cast her vote ahead of next week's local government elections. - SUREASH CHOLAI

UNC general secretary Davendranath Tancoo said the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) is seeking legal advice about destroying defective ballot papers issued to special electors.

Tancoo told Newsday on Monday, EBC chairman Mark Ramkerrysingh mentioned this to him in a telephone conversation around 11 am.

Tancoo said Ramkerrysingh told him the defective ballot papers would not be destroyed until the EBC obtained legal advice in relation to Election Rule 22(7) of the Representation of the People Act.

When contacted, EBC officials said, "We can confirm this."

In a statement last Friday, the EBC said it had retrieved all the defective ballot papers and would ask the government printer to destroy them and provide certification that it had been done.

Some returning officers signed their initials, "special" or "SP" on the back of the ballot papers.

The EBC said no special elector had collected any of those papers or been adversely affected, as claimed by some political parties. The error, with the ballot papers for 40 electoral districts, happened last Wednesday.

Tancoo said the UNC was satisfied the EBC was seeking legal advice.

"Common sense has taken over," he said.

But Tancoo was concerned the EBC did not appear to know what the law said in the matter. He added the UNC was keeping its legal options open.

Last Friday, Tancoo said the UNC wanted the EBC to meet with all political parties on the issue to determine the way forward.

PNM general secretary Foster Cummings deferred all questions about the defective ballots to the EBC.

Last Friday, 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 had demonstrated over time that it had the capacity "to conduct free and fair elections in TT."

Port of Spain People's Movement founder Louis Lee Sing asked whether the returning officers and anyone else associated with the defective ballot papers was still employed by the EBC.

Lee Sing said he would be writing to the commission about the matter. He reiterated that the defective ballot papers did not affect the PPM, as none of the 40 districts fell under the Port of Spain City Corporation.

MSJ political leader David Abdulah said the party had not received any word from the EBC about what would happen to the defective ballot papers. He reiterated it would be ideal for representatives of the political parties contesting next Monday's local government elections to witness their destruction.

But Abdulah believed that could happen without any of the parties' being present and the EBC would have to certify that the ballot papers were destroyed.

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