Not every breach, transgression would void election – Judge

It is not every breach that results in an election being invalidated.

This was the ruling of Justice Stanley John on the concerns raised surrounding the statement of the polls/ form 16s (forms that account for the ballots issued to the polling stations) at the final count.

Precisely, Petitioner Benjamin Exeter, the Central Leeward candidate for the New Democratic Party (NDP) in December 2015, had alleged that the statement of the polls, had not been provided for polling station CLI-1.

Further, the petition filed by him on December 31, 2015, states that for five other polling stations, there were inconsistencies in the recording of the numbers on these forms.

Four forms showed numbers which suggested a 100% voter turnout, and for one, CLD-1, the numbers were suggestive of a 101% voter turnout.

The evidence upon which the NDP was seeking to establish this claim was submitted by Maia Eustace, who was a roving agent on the day.

Eustace, in her witness statement, had said that she and another person had asked for the form 16s at the final count, and that a reluctant Winston Gaymes (the returning officer) eventually obliged, except for CLI-1.

“He stated dismissively that there was none. We objected to the count proceeding as there was no return on which to base the final count. Our objection was denied,” Eustace’s statement reads.
When the other form 16s were received, Exeter took photos with his cellphone and the information was copied hurriedly.

The petitioner’s conclusions were drawn from these copied figures.

Counsel on the side of the respondents, Douglas Mendes SC, had submitted that on the form 16s, the number written beside “Number of names on official list,” was actually the number of persons who voted. Further, the counsel posited that this was what the presiding officer mistakenly wrote where instead it was supposed to be written the number of voters on the list.

However, crucially, Justice John noted that Eustace had agreed with the accuracy of the figures recorded, at the final count.

“The final count has been confirmed as accurate in each case. Ms Eustace agreed that the final count for CLA-1 was 173 for ULP, 168 NDP; for CLE, 197 for ULP, 171 for NDP; for CLD-1, 172 for ULP, 156 for NDP; and for CLF-1, 121 for ULP and 101 for NDP. All of these final results were recorded in the final count of votes,” he stated.

“Undoubtedly, several errors were made by the Presiding Officer in the recording of final votes on the Statement of Polls. The question now is; does it appear that the breaches are sufficient either by themselves or with other breaches that have occurred in Central Leeward to invalidate the election in that constituency.”

John referred to the Representation of the People Act(RPA). He noted that the RPA says that if there are any mistakes in the use of the forms set out in the Act, this will not invalidate an election, if it appears to the court that the election was conducted in accordance with the principles contained in the Act, and that the noncompliance did not affect the result of the election.

“The learning from the authorities (including cases) demonstrates that it is not every breach or transgression that would void an election. It must be an irregularity which affects the result of an election,” John declared.