UNC celebrates LGE 7-7 results, Kamla: We won popular vote

THE Opposition UNC was upbeat on Monday night after it appeared the local government elections ended in another 7-7 tie.

In the 2019 elections, both parties won seven of the 14 local government corporations.

The results were repeated on Monday.

The UNC retained the Sangre Grande Regional Chaguanas Borough, Penal/Debe Regional, Siparia Borough, Princes Town Regional, Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional, Rio Claro/ Mayaro Regional Corporations.

The PNM retained the San Fernando City, Port of Spain City, Diego Martin Borough, Tunapuna/Piarco Regional, Point Fortin Borough, Arima Borough and San Juan/Laventille Regional Corporations.

The UNC made inroads in some districts in Arima, Diego Martin and Tunapuna/Piarco, considered PNM strongholds, reportedly losing by margins of hundreds of votes or less.

The night began slowly for UNC supporters waiting at party headquarters in Chaguanas for results to come in.

As preliminary results came in, the enthusiasm of supporters increased.

"Yellow is the code! Yellow is the code!" they shouted.

The atmosphere remained upbeat when it became clear the elections were tied.

Approximately 1,078,651 people were eligible to vote in the elections.

Some of these - 13,284 - are special electors.

They could not vote on Monday. Special voting started on August 7 and ended at 3 pm on Sunday.

In a video from her Siparia constituency office in Penal, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar updated UNC supporters on the party's early victories in Chaguanas, Princes Town and Sangre Grande.

Later at the party's headquarters in Chaguanas, Persad-Bissessar congratulated all UNC candidates.

"Let's light them up!"

Persad-Bissessar promised, "We will work harder to bring home the next (general) election."

She was pleased that in the corporations retained by the UNC, the party either increased the number of districts it held or made inroads in other places.

"PNM have lost votes in all parts of Trinidad. At the end of the day, we would have won the popular vote."

She hinted that the UNC would consider challenging results in some of the 141 local government districts where the results were close.

Persad-Bissessar reiterated her concerns about alleged irregularities in special voting in the elections, which she said helped the PNM.

In a statement on Sunday in response to a letter from Persad-Bissessar, Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) CEO Fern Narcis-Scope disagreed with Persad-Bissessar's complaint about alleged irregularities in special voting for the local government elections.

Special voting began on August 7 and ended at 3 pm on Sunday.

Persad-Bissessar wrote to Narcis-Scope, complaining about two ballot boxes not being sealed and that this could change the outcome of voting in any electoral district.

In a statement issued in response to Persad-Bissessar's letter, Narcis-Scope said there was no provision in the election rules for sealing ballot boxes at special polling stations established by the commission.

In accordance with Election Rule 76 of the Representation of the People Act, Narcis-Scope said it had become the practice for special presiding officers to use ballot boxes to transport the sealed envelopes.

She said the broken seals were part of a previous process utilised at the special polling station and were not part of the process being witnessed at Queen’s Hall on August 11.

Narcis-Scope said her investigations revealed that as required by law, all the special envelopes were sealed by the special presiding officer and for matters of safety and security in the transportation, all boxes were locked.

Further, at the sorting exercise at Queen’s Hall, all the special envelopes were displayed as sealed and intact.

Narcis-Scope said the fact that two ballot boxes were not sealed does not impact the outcome of the election in any given electoral district as suggested by Persad-Bissessar.

Persad-Bissessar's second complaint was that ballots cast at the Sangre Grande Police Station were not packaged according to the standard procedure so that the names of some electors could be viewed by the EBC staff who were responsible for sorting the votes and sending them to the respective electoral districts. Narcis-Scope said her investigations revealed that the 11 covering envelopes with the declaration of identity of the special electors as required by Election Rule 71 were placed in the ballot box at that location, which was then locked and sealed.

A proper record was kept of the districts where the ballots were cast via a statement of the contents of the special ballot box in accordance with Election Rule 84 (2).

Narcis-Scope said it was regrettable that notwithstanding the training provided, there was a deviation from the approved procedure.

But she added this deviation did not compromise the integrity of the process as all of the commission's staff who were designated to participate in special poll proceedings are required to take declarations of secrecy.

Narcis-Scope said the identity of people who have cast their ballots is an essential component of the electoral process.

Persad-Bissessar repeated the UNC's claims that the payment of over 30,00 tax refunds this week was an attempt by the PNM to sway voters.

She also claimed the PNM was involved in "payment for votes" in places like San Fernando and Sangre Grande.

"These are election offences."

Persad-Bissessar said the party's lawyers will address these and other matters in the coming days.

She praised the UNC's election partner, the National Transformation Alliance (NTA) for giving the PNM "a run for their money" in places the UNC did not contest.

Persad-Bissessar also thanked members of the OWTU's Pointe-a-Pierre branch for helping the UNC in their election campaign.

The OWTU, as an organisation, said they only supported the Movement for Social Justice( MSJ) in the elections.