JLP's fight for KSAMC reaches Supreme Court

The Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) fight for the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) has reached the Supreme Court as its losing candidate for the Kintyre division has alleged "irregularities" in a claim that could trigger a re-vote in one polling division.

In a filing dated March 11, Kelvin Clarke has asked for a declaration that voids the results for polling stations 82A and 82B in the local government elections held on February 26. 

He alleged that on election day, "there were significant irregularities that resulted in a substantial distortion or subversion of the process of free and fair election". 

"The location of polling [stations] 82A and 82B had been switched without any prior notice to voters and election workers, causing a significant number of voters registered to those divisions to be disenfranchised," Clarke said. 

He claimed further that contrary to Section 35(6) of the Representation of the People Act, "voters who attended polling stations 82A and 82B were prevented from voting by purported election workers, although the time had not yet elapsed for voting". 

Winning People's National Party (PNP) candidate and now councillor Viviene Brown-Bond, Returning Officer Eric Malcolm and the Attorney General are named as the first, second and third respondents, respectively. 

There is also an affidavit from dressmaker Alva Johnson, who outlined that she faced a series of difficulties because of the changes before being able to cast her vote. 

The claim was filed under the Election Petition Act.

Director of Elections Glasspole Brown said earlier this morning that he was making some checks before commenting on the matter. 

PNP General Secretary Dr Dayton Campbell said he was not aware of the court action and telephone calls to Clarke and the JLP's General Secretary Dr Horace Chang went unanswered.  

The Electoral Office of Jamaica lists 82A and 82B as polling stations, which make up polling division 82, in the Kintyre division. 

Polling station 82A was at the Constitution Hill All-Age School. Brown-Bond picked up 106 votes to Clarke's 20. Four ballots were rejected. 

The votes cast represented 34.7 per cent of the 375 voters registered to vote in that station. 

Polling station 82B was located at the Kintyre Community Centre and Brown-Bond also won in that box, polling 42 votes to Clarke's six.  Some 163 persons were eligible to vote. 

EOJ data shows that Brown-Bond won the Kintyre division after polling 1,319 votes to Clarke's 1,287. 

Picking up the Kintyre division was crucial to the PNP taking control of the KSAMC from the JLP.  While both parties ended with an equal number of divisions, 20 each, the PNP won the popular vote and earned the right, under the law, to select a mayor.

The Kintyre division falls in the St Andrew Eastern Rural constituency, which is represented in Parliament by the JLP's Juliet Holness. 

PNP Councillor Andrew Swaby was sworn in on March 12 as mayor of Kingston, replacing the JLP's Delroy Williams, who is now the deputy. 

2016 Local Government Elections in Polling Stations 82A and 82B in Kintyre Division: 

82A: PNP 28 | JLP 10 | Total registered voters 139 

82B: PNP 86 | JLP 28 | Total registered voters 367

2012 Local Government Elections in Polling Stations 82A and 82B: 

82A: PNP 46  | JLP 4  | Total registered voters 128 

82B: PNP 112  | JLP 9  | Total registered voters 332

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