Jamaica: According to a report in The Gleaner the seat for East Central St James that was contested by outgoing Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and banker Cedric Stewart of the People's National Party has not been officially declared yet by the Supervising Officer even after the recount was done last Saturday night. Bartlett won the seat with 6,337 votes to Stewart's 6,172.
The report indicated that a box containing ballots for election-day workers was tampered with, spurring lawyers representing Stewart to call for a magisterial recount.
Montego Bay attorney Clayton Morgan confirmed the plans to take the matter to
the courts and told The Gleaner yesterday that they would be challenging irregularities related to 162 rejected ballots, which had markings of Xs next to the names of the three candidates contesting the seat. He added that, depending on the findings of the court, there were plans to pursue a request to have the election declared null and void.
The Gleaner said that Morgan's warnings have not deterred Bartlett, who said he welcomes the move for a magisterial recount and is confident this would see him receiving more votes "because they rejected 151 of the votes that were all clear Xs for the bell" which is the symbol of the JLP.
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