Bartlett wants forensic audit of alleged election irregularities

BY HORACE HINES Observer West reporter

Thursday, February 02, 2012

MONTEGO BAY, St James - EAST Central St James MP Edmund Bartlett wants the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (EOJ) to conduct a forensic audit ahead of the upcoming Local Government into alleged irregularities discovered in a polling division in his constituency during the recent general (parliamentary) election.

The seat was contested by the People's National Party's Cedric Stewart, independent candidate Roystan Richards and Bartlett, who represented the Jamaica Labour Party. One hundred and sixty two of the ballots cast by 386 election day workers ahead of the December 29 polls were rejected after they were found defaced. The election day workers' ballots were placed with those of voters from polling division 50.

Bartlett, who contends that the ballots were tampered with during the seven days they remained in the care of the EOJ, is questioning the competence of the top tier of the EOJ in the constituency to undertake the election exercise in the local government polls, constitutionally due by the end of March.

"I am concerned whether or not this present leadership of the electoral office here (East Central St James) can in fact carry out a parish council election a few weeks from now. I think it is important for us to clear the air before this current team can be allowed to credibly conduct an election in East Central St James," Bartlett told the Observer West.

Stewart, who is also alarmed over what he felt were blatant irregularities in polling division 50, has advised his team of attorneys-at-law, including Clayton Morgan, to take the matter to the Supreme Court for a solution.

However, Morgan says he is now awaiting a signal from the PNP hierarchy before proceeding.

"The candidate himself, Mr Cedric Stewart, has instructed us to proceed. However, the party, the PNP, has not yet given us the final instruction but we expect to get them any day now. It is a legal decision but they have to make a political decision," Morgan told the Observer West.

Bartlett retained the seat after a magisterial recount held at the St James Resident Magistrate's Court in Cambridge.

After the completion of the magisterial recount, Bartlett tallied 6,382 to Stewart's 6,208.

Independent candidate Roystan Richards got 22 votes.

Resident Magistrate Sandra Wong-Small threw out the 162 rejected ballots.

Morgan claimed that among the solutions available to the Supreme Court is to order to "run over the entire box".

In response to a suggestion that even if the 162 votes were to go to the PNP, Bartlett who was declared the winner by a margin of 174 would still be 12 votes clear, Morgan said the court would not see it that way.

"That is a mathematical, logical way of looking at it. But it is not how the court will look at it... Legally speaking the court is going to have to also look at the fact that the democratic will of 162 workers was hijacked and whether any remedies at law is available to these people," Morgan reasoned.

Bartlett reasoned that he welcomed Stewart's intention to take the matter to the Supreme Court, as it offers the opportunity to expose a plot to deprive him of the 162 votes.

"... when you examined the ballots you saw that all the 162 ballots had Xs beside the bell and then other markings, while none of the PNP ballots had any other markings but an X beside the head," Bartlett said.

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Bartlett wants forensic audit of alleged election irregularities