EBC under fire

UNC candidate and former councillor for the Freeport/Chickland electoral district, Anil Balliram, complained about receiving news of a change in a polling station from Freeport Presbyterian School to Upper Carapichaima on Friday.

“Is it a plot by the EBC to disrupt the electoral process?” asked Balliram. Balliram said the Friday notice did not give his party enough time to inform potential voters, many of whom still went to Freeport Presbyterian to vote. “They did not even have the courtesy to put up a sign to direct voters to the new location,” he said. Balliram crafted a sign on bristol board himself and hung it on the gate of Freeport Presbyterian School.

A similar discrepancy occurred in polling stations 3190 and 3185 which were historically placed at Esperanza Presbyterian School and Dow Village Government Primary School respectively, but were switched at the last minute, according to UNC candidate Ramchand Rajbal. Unlike Balliram, Rajbal said they were only notified yesterday morning, adding, “All the personnel at the EBC have the candidates numbers. A telephone call would have rectified the situation and we would have lived with that.” Rajbal raised his concerns with officials and asked that the stations be reverted to their original locations, but EBC officials decided against it as ballots had already been cast at both polling stations.

Speaking with the media outside her party’s office, political leader of the Independent Liberal Party, Rekha Ramjit, also complained of the late notice of location changes. “We got our information on Sunday while the UNC received the info on Friday. I do not know when the PNM received their information...We are very close to where the returning officer is yet we received ours on Sunday.” In a press statement, the EBC placed responsibility for the sudden changes on an “administrative error” made by the presiding officer and apologised for the inconvenience. Meanwhile in Charlieville, both UNC and PNM mock stations were ordered to be dismantled after they were discovered to have been within the 100 yards of polling stations at Charlieville ASJA Primary and Charlieville Presbyterian Schools.

UNC lawyer Saddam Hosein brought the location of the PNM’s mock station to the attention of the ASJA Primary station’s presiding officer. After measurements were taken, it was found that the PNM and the complaining UNC were within the limits. Both parties blamed their unlawful placement on the failure of the EBC to mark the 100-yard limit. PNM lawyer Christophe Brathwaite said, An EBC representative yesterday said the commission could not respond to the issue of mock stations being moved as no reports had been made about it.

However, responsibility for the marking of the 100-yard limit was placed again on the presiding and roving officers for the polling stations.