EBC: 54 per cent voter turnout

THE Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) says there was a 54 per cent voter turn out in the April 28 general election.

In a statement on April 29, the commission said this information was obtained from a preliminary tabulation and verification of results from the election.

The total electorate in all 41 constituencies was 1,153,850 people.

The EBC said, “Based on the preliminary count, the UNC has emerged as the leading party in the parliamentary elections, securing 26 of the 41 constituencies. The PNM secured 13, and the Tobago People’s Party (TPP) secured 2.”

The commission said it is undertaking general recounts, inclusive of poll cards in the Arouca/Lopinot, Malabar/Mausica and San Fernando East constituencies.

All three were won by the PNM. The recounts began at 3 pm on April 29. The EBC said, “These preliminary results are provisional and remain subject to final validation, pending the conclusion of the requested recounts.”

With respect to total votes, the UNC got the highest with 334,874.

They were followed by the PNM with 220,160 votes.

The third highest number of votes went to the Patriotic Front (PF) – 21,010.

Led by Mickela Panday, daughter of former prime minister Basdeo Panday, the PF won no constituencies in the election.

But their vote count was higher than the TPP’s 13,857 votes.

The TPP won the Tobago East and Tobago West constituencies.

The National Transformation Alliance (NTA), led by former police commissioner Gary Griffith, got 5,932 votes.

The EBC said there were 1,908 rejected ballots.