THE recount on Monday has been completed and the results show that the PNM's Ancil Dennis, the former THA chief secretary, has still lost the seat – by four votes.
Over the weekend, it was widely circulated that Dennis had asked the Election and Boundaries Commission (EBC) to check the results of the vote in the December 6 Tobago House of Assembly (THA) elections.
This followed a recount last Tuesday which resulted in Dennis’s opponent, Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) candidate, now Assistant Secretary of Health Sonny Craig’s votes increasing by one.
After the recount on Monday, done at the Lambeau Multipurpose Facility, Craig remained the holder of the electoral district. The final count was: PDP – 924, PNM – 920, IDA – 13, UTP – six, and CARM – zero.
Speaking with the media, candidate representative for the PDP Steve Jack said, “I did not expect any change in terms of the PDP being the overall winner.” Candidate representative for Dennis, Janet James, declined comment.
Dennis took to his Facebook page, saying that over the last 48 hours, he had been the subject of much slander and ridicule. This, he said was mostly due to a complete misunderstanding of the recount process as stipulated in law, specifically, the Representation of the People Act, Chapter 2:01.
“Pursuant to Rule 101(1) the returning officer should only make a declaration of which candidate has the most votes if by noon on the day following the closing of the poll neither a candidate nor his agent requests the returning officer to conduct a final count (commonly referred to as a recount)."
Dennis said he submitted his request for a general final count before noon on the day following the closing of the poll, given the razor thin margin, then, of two votes.
He said the final count took place at the Lambeau Multi-Purpose Facility from 3 pm last Tuesday to 1 am on Wednesday, adding that before the start of the final count, his agent asked the returning officer about the recounting of unused ballots unattached from the ballot books, but she refused to allow this for all the polling stations.
“This refusal is in contravention of Rule 101(6) which requires the returning officer to count all ballots, hence this must include the unused ballots un-detached from the ballot books.
"This refusal to count all the ballots was a material irregularity which based on legal precedent has the real likelihood of voiding and invalidating the election results since my request was for a general final count. I have chosen not to litigate this issue,” Dennis said.
He said under Rule 106(1), a candidate for an electoral district or his agent may, within four days, apply in writing to the Chief Election Officer for a check on the final count of the results of the poll for that electoral district. He said this is certainly not a second or third recount, but a continuation of the final count or recount process adding that it must be reiterated that the law provides for only one recount.”
He said by letters from his agent dated December 8, the Chie
