EBC mum as UNC challenges Lengua/Indian Walk vote

THE Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) has responded to a letter from the Opposition UNC asking for a vote considered invalid to be deemed valid to break an electoral tie in the Lengua/Indian Walk district.

In a brief statement on Monday, the commission said chief elections officer Fern Narcis-Scope "has responded to the UNC's letter and since the UNC has indicated its intention to take this matter to court, the commission will not be commenting further in the public domain."

Preliminary results of the August 14 local government elections showed the PNM candidate, the Rev Autly Granthume, winning the district 1,430 to 1,425 over the UNC’s Nicole Gopaul.

This would have given the PNM a presence in the Princes Town Regional Corporation (PTRC) it has not had since 1996-1999, when Godfrey Lee Sing represented Moruga.

On August 15, the UNC asked for a recount.

On August 16, this recount resulted in a PNM-UNC tie, with 1,428 votes each.

In a statement, the EBC said a second recount would be done on August 17. It continued on August 18.

In a statement that day, the EBC said the second recount had also ended in a tie.

The Representation of the People Act says if repeated recounts fail to resolve a tie, the election is to be declared void and a new election held as soon as possible. As a result, the commission's returning officer for Lengua/Indian Walk declared the election result void.

On August 19 the EBC said once Narcis-Scope certifies this, a fresh election can take place.

But the UNC has insisted the election could be resolved by including one ballot, in the UNC's favour, which the EBC deemed invalid, as it was not initialled by an EBC officer.

In a letter on August 18, the UNC threatened legal action against the EBC if it did not validate this ballot.