WESTMORELAND, Jamaica — The incumbent People’s National Party (PNP) candidate for the Westmoreland Eastern constituency, Luther Buchanan, has been declared the winner in the seat after the returning officer was called upon to separate the tie between him and Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) candidate Daniel Lawrence in the September 3 General Election.

The returning officer separated the tie after Buchanan received the luck of the draw at the counting centre located at the Darliston Primary this morning.

The names of Buchanan and Lawrence were placed on papers in a box by electoral workers and the returning officer randomly pulled the one with Buchanan’s name.

In the preliminary counting of the ballots, Buchanan polled 4,823 while Lawrence amassed 4,831 but the final count that ended yesterday afternoon revealed that both candidates had polled 4,834 votes.

The matter is now headed for the court as a legal team representing Lawrence is preparing to file a request for a magisterial recount.

We think their victory will be short lived we are now moving to file a request for a magisterial recount and we will see where we go from there,” a member of the team of attorneys representing Lawrence told the OBSERVER ONLINE.

Horace Hines