Election Petition appeals in October

Attorneys for the Opposition party filed its appeal of Justice Mira Dean-Armorer’s decision last Thursday.

The dates set side for the hearing of the appeals are October 17, 18 and 19. Election petitions cannot be appealed to the Privy Council.

In her judgement last month, Dean-Armorer had rejected the UNC’s claim that the election should be invalidated because the Election and Boundaries’ Commission (EBC) was not allowed to extend the poll by one hour due to heavy rainfall in Trinidad.

While Dean-Armorer had agreed with the UNC that the EBC acted illegally by extending the polls, she ruled that its error did not materially affect the result of the election, in which People’s National Movement (PNM) beat the UNC by a 23-18 margin.

In its notice of appeal, the UNC identified almost two dozen grounds on which they are challenging Dean-Armorer’s judgment.

The party claims that the judge erred in speculating over its decision to file petitions for only six marginal constituencies-San Fernando West, Tunapuna, St Joseph, Toco/Sangre Grande, Moruga/Tableland and La Horquetta/Talparo.

The petition for La Horquetta/ Talparo was dismissed before the trial of the petitions, as it was served on the successful PNM candidate Maxie Cuffie past the deadline required.