MONTEGO BAY, St James — THE People’s National Party (PNP) Cedric Stewart, the losing candidate in last Thursday’s general election in the East Central St James constituency, has filed for a magisterial recount.

According to attorney Clayton Morgan, the documents were filed yesterday in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate’s Court.

At the end of the final count on the weekend, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Edmund Bartlett polled 6,337 votes to Stewart’s 6,172. Independent candidate Roystan Richards got 24 votes.

Morgan told the Observer West yesterday, that a high-profile legal team comprising of himself, Abe Dabdoub and Raymond Clough, will represent Stewart at the recount.

Arguing that the election in the constituency was dogged by irregularities, Morgan warned that if the court does not rule in favour of the PNP candidate, then steps will be taken to have the poll declared null and void.

“We have reason to believe that the votes were not tallied and allocated correctly between the three candidates by the returning officer,” Morgan said.

“We have reason too to believe that the votes that were cast for Mr Stewart but rejected by the returning officer on the grounds that the intention of the voter was not clear, was wrongly pronounced by him,” he added.

The PNP attorney emphasised that his team will “focus the searchlight” on Polling Division 50, which he said, contained all the ballots of Election Day workers in the constituency.

“In that box Stewart got 247 votes, Bartlett received 45; there were no spoilt ballots but there were 162 rejects,” said Morgan, adding that rejected ballots for the other 88 boxes in the constituency totalled 71.

Additionally, he said, several of the boxes came in from the polling divisions without the seals of the presiding officer as is required under the Representation of the People Act.

“Also absent were the seal of the candidates, as is also required under the Representation of the People Act,” Morgan protested.