By Roy Sanford, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
THE RESULT of the magisterial recount in the Local Government election for the Springmount Division in St. James is heading to the Supreme Court after it was questioned yesterday by the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).
Senior Resident Magistrate for St. James Valrie Stephens ruled that Donald Colomathi of the People's National Party (PNP) was the official winner in the division by a single vote but deputy leader of the JLP Edmund Bartlett made it clear that he was not satisfied with the verdict.
"It was very clear that the judge was less than forthright in her ruling and we are going straight to the Supreme Court on this matter," Mr. Bartlett told reporters after the verdict was declared. He said the JLP is to appeal to the Court as early as today.
The magisterial recount took place on Monday and the initial result showed Colomathi and the JLP candidate Brenda Taylor in a tie with 1,390 votes each.
Controversy surfaced when attorneys from both sides argued over whether a punctured ballot should be accepted or rejected as a genuine vote. Miss Stephens had originally rejected the ballot but attorneys from the PNP argued that a hole in a ballot does not render it void.
Ms Stephens then told the attorneys that she would make her final ruling in the matter yesterday after she consulted 'the authorities' on the legitimacy of punctured ballots.
The controversy deepened yesterday when JLP attorney Abe Dabdoub added a new spin to the matter. He submitted to the court that some ballots, which had been rejected by Ms Stephens, should have been awarded to the JLP candidate because there were ticks that clearly showed the voter intended to vote for that candidate. "The intention of the voter is paramount," he said. "You cannot disenfranchise a voter if it is clear who the voter wishes to vote for."
He said there were cases in Manchester where the Resident Magistrate accepted ticks on ballots as genuine votes. Ms Stephens responded by reminding Mr. Dabdoub that the court had agreed on Monday to deal only with the punctured ballot.
She subsequently restored the punctured ballot as a genuine one and awarded it to Mr. Colomathi making him the winner. The final result was Colomathi 1,392 and Taylor 1,391.
Attorney for the PNP, Senator Keste Miller, said he was not concerned about the matter going to the Supreme Court. "We are ready," he said simply.
