Derek Achong
The United National Congress (UNC) has lost its appeal over the dismissal of its election petition for the district of Lengua/Indian Walk.
Delivering a judgment a short while ago, Appellate Judges Charmaine Pemberton, Vasheist Kokaram, and Carla Brown-Antoine rejected the party's appeal.
The outcome of the case means that a by-election will have to take place.
Even if the UNC loses the by-election, it will still control the Princes Town Regional Corporation as it secured the nine remaining districts in the local government election in August, last year.
The election of a new chairman for the corporation was dependent on the outcome of the case as the incumbent chairman remains in place until a councillor for the district is determined.
In the appeal, the party contended that High Court Judge Marissa Robertson got it wrong when she rejected the petition in January.
The petition was based on what transpired in two successive recounts for the district that occurred when PNM candidate Autly Granthum was announced as the winner over UNC candidate Nicole Gopaul on election night.
Granthume initially received 1,430 votes compared to Gopaul's 1,425.
At the end of the first recount, both candidates were found to have received 1,428 votes.
However, a special ballot in favour of Gopaul, which would have broken the tie, was rejected by the Presiding Officer due to the failure of the Returning Officer to place their initials on it.
A second recount yielded the same result as the first, with the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) declaring that a bye-election was required.
The Court of Appeal ruled that Justice Robertson's decision could not be faulted.
The panel stated that the special ballot was not valid without the returning officer's initials and EBC officials did not have any power to cure the defect, as they do with normal voters on election day.
The Appeal Court's ruling cannot be further challenged before the Privy Council as election petitions can only be considered by local courts.
The UNC was represented by Anand Ramlogan, SC, Jayanti Lutchmedial, Kent Samlal, Saddam Hosein, and Natasha Bisram. Deborah Peake, SC, and Ravi Heffes-Doon represented the EBC. The PNM was represented by Michael Quamina, SC, Ravi Nanga, Celeste Jules and Adana Bain-Bertrand.