Mitchell PHYLLIS MITCHELL, Member of Parliament for North East St. Catherine, yesterday denied allegations she was present when her supporters entered a polling station on Election Day in December 1997, marked ballots and stuffed them in ballot boxes.
"I did not enter any polling station and stuff boxes," Miss Mitchell told the court yesterday.
Witnesses for Abe Dabdoub, the Jamaica Labour Party candidate, had testified in August this year that Miss Mitchell had led a party of supporters to the polling station at Redwood All Age School. The witnesses said the supporters marked ballots and stuffed them in ballot boxes.
Mr. Dabdoub is seeking to have the election in that constituency declared null and void because of alleged irregularities which took place on Election Day. He is also contending several of his supporters were duly enumerated to vote but their names did not appear on the voters' list.
Mrs. Mitchell won the seat by 30 votes. Mr. Dabdoub has brought the petition seeking to unseat Mrs. Mitchell.
Mr. Justice Basil Reid is hearing the petition.
Testifying further, Mrs. Mitchell said the Redwood District was a predominantly PNP area and that was borne out in the results of the polls.
Asked if she had told supporters to gather up stones, "lick down" the Labourites and not let them vote, Mrs. Mitchell said she never said any such thing. She said she was an elder in the Seafield United Church, St. Catherine and that one of the tenets of her religion was peace. On being asked by Headley Cunningham, Q.C. if by way of contrast Mr. Dabdoub was a Christian, she said she did not know.
Evidence was given by JLP supporters that Mrs. Mitchell was issuing money at the Redwood All Age School but Mrs. Mitchell told the court that was not true.
She said when she visited Redwood she did not have any money with her. On being asked by Mr. Cunningham who is representing her if she took out a "coil" of $500 and handed it to the people in the crowd, she said no. She said she did not enter any of the polling stations or lead a group of people into polling station 23. She said she did not see anyone marking ballots and stuffing them in boxes.
