St Mary South Eastern Recount Could Go ‘Til Next Week

Attorneys for the two main polit­i­cal par­ties have sig­nalled that the mag­is­te­r­i­al recount for the St Mary South Eastern con­stituen­cy could go into next week.

At the end of the first day of count­ing inside the Sutton Street Resident Magistrate’s Court in down­town Kingston yes­ter­day, attor­neys revealed that only 16 of the 108 bal­lot box­es had been tal­lied. Both sides also agreed that there was a net gain of one vote for Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) can­di­date Dr Norman Dunn, reduc­ing the mar­gin of vic­to­ry for his People’s National Party (PNP) chal­lenger, Dr Winston Green, to eight. “It takes a long time to go through each one [bal­lot box] because there are objec­tions tak­en as to whether a par­tic­u­lar bal­lot con­sti­tutes a prop­er vote,” said Hugh Wildman, one of the attor­neys rep­re­sent­ing Dunn as he sought to explain the snail’s pace at which the count­ing was pro­ceed­ing. “So that [bal­lot] had to be exam­ined and sub­mis­sions made by both sides and the mag­is­trate has to rule. So it’s an exer­cise that takes time,” he con­tin­ued. Despite this, both can­di­dates expressed con­fi­dence that they would emerge victorious.
Story orig­i­nat­ed here.: St Mary South Eastern Recount Could Go ‘Til Next Week