EOJ on Ballott boxes find- Power 106 FM news

[Sickko]

EOJ on ballot boxes find
The count of two ballot boxes from South East St Mary which were discovered yesterday is to take place today at the Port Maria courthouse in St Mary.

The ballots are those of election day workers who voted in the constituency.

Director of Elections Danville Walker confirmed that an error resulted in the boxes being left behind following the initial count.

Mr. Walker is confident that the outcome of the count will not affect the current seat standing of 33 for the JLP and 27 for the PNP.

The count is to be observed by Harold Brady of the JLP and Abe Dabdoub and Glen Cruikshank of the PNP.

When the final count of ballots ended last Thursday, the JLP’s Tarn Peralto was declared the winner over the PNP’s Harry Douglas in the constituency.

Mr. Peralto polled 6,969 votes to Mr. Douglas’ 6,935 to win the seat by 34 votes.

The preliminary count on Election Day in South East St. Mary had Mr. Peralto trailing Mr. Douglas by 46 votes.

[Baddaz]

more and more i realize that this walker fellow is a clown..

how can he arrive at such a confident conclusion...

Mr. Walker is confident that the outcome of the count will not affect the current seat standing of 33 for the JLP and 27 for the PNP.

this mr. walker ought to take a graceful walk... clearly incompetent and not fit for this position of impartiality....

[Willi]

Magisterial recount for South East St. Mary continues
Tuesday, 11 September 2007
The magisterial recount for the closely contested South East St. Mary seat may go into Wednesday as the counting got off to a late start Tuesday afternoon.

The recount which was scheduled for 9 Tuesday morning started at one o' clock Tuesday afternoon.

Tuesday morning presiding magistrate Sara James-Thompson said she has no authority to count the two boxes found at the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) offices.

She said these boxes will be sent back to the Electoral Office of Jamaica where a decision will be made as to how and when they will be counted.

The recount has therefore started with the original boxes which went in from the constituency.

The JLP's Tarn Peralto who was given the victory following the final count last week and his lawyer Harold Brady as well as the PNP's Harry Douglas and his lawyer Glen Cruickshank were present at Tuesday afternoons counting exercise.

Tuesday morning news emerged that two uncounted boxes, containing the ballots of Election Day workers and members of the security forces were discovered at the Electoral Office of Jamaica on Duke Street in Kingston while a final tally of the ballot boxes was being carried out.

Chairman of the Electoral Commission of Jamaica, Professor Errol Miller, told RJR News that the boxes, which were still sealed, had been misplaced.

The EoJ last Thursday confirmed that South East St. Mary, which was originally reported as being won by Harry Douglas, was won by the JLP's Tarn Peralto by 34 votes.

And as the controversy surrounding the two boxes continues, Director of Elections Danville Walker says the matter is now a legal issue and that he is awaiting advice from the Attorney General.

Resident Magistrate Sara James-Thompson Tuesday ruled that she has no authority to count the two boxes found at the EoJ offices.

Speaking with RJR News Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Walker says he is awaiting the ruling from the magistrate to determine how to proceed.

[Muadib]

how can he arrive at such a confident conclusion...

Mr. Walker is confident that the outcome of the count will not affect the current seat standing of 33 for the JLP and 27 for the PNP.

this mr. walker ought to take a graceful walk... clearly incompetent and not fit for this position of impartiality....

Each box should have a count summary included.. maybe he saw this before the actual counting of the ballots.

[Time]

Well, Mr Walker is in a position to know how many election day workers were assigned to the constituency and he may also khow many PNP and how many JLP workers were employed.

Perhaps there are more than 34 ballots in these boxes but Mr Walker knows there is no way that the PNP will get 34 more than the JLP.

[Karl]

Well, Mr Walker is in a position to know how many election day workers were assigned to the constituency and he may also khow many PNP and how many JLP workers were employed.

Perhaps there are more than 34 ballots in these boxes but Mr Walker knows there is no way that the PNP will get 34 more than the JLP.

How would he know that - unless the numbers of persons voting is less than the margin of victory?

I would think in any election some persons who voiced a preference for one party or another would step into the voting boothe and vote contrary to their earlier announcements. In other words there is no way of being absolutely sure the total number of votes a candidate receives except by counting actual ballots. For a DOE to be calling results before all ballots are counted should be a no-no!

[Mosiah]

Having listened to Danville again last night, I am more convinced that maybe we need to start looking at other candidates for the job. His arrogance is troubling and he is not even in the job for 18 years yet! He says the EOJ accepts full responsibility yet he smartly places blame for this mess up at the feet of others. You either accept it or you don't, Danny Boy!

[Mosiah]

In a situation like this, I think it's best if Danville refrains from these statements. There is no need for it. Let the ballots be counted and if there is no change, great! If there is, start writing, Danny Boy!

[Gamma]

unless him already know the contents of the box?

[Mosiah]

unless him already know the contents of the box?

[Time]

Mathematical Assumptions

Danny has been doing this for years. Let give him some 'credit.

I believe that the number is more than the margin of victory otherwise he would have stated that. But, I doubt that there are more than 102 ballots in those boxes and I suspect that there are far less than 102 ballots in those boxes.

If the JLP nominated X numbers of election day workers and the PNP also nominated X numbers of PNP election day workers then unless N, the number of neutral election day workers is of the order of 34 or greater that Danny can predict the results will not be changed.

Of course X would have to be small because if X is large and a lot of the JLP workers were JLP traitors then the PNP could win the seat.

My guess is that when the election day voters voted

J (JLP Workers) < 34
P (PNP Workers) < 34
N (Neutral Workers) < 34
J + P + N < 102

[Time]

Danny Boy made the statement to put a spin on his department's blunder. If he is sure the votes won't change the result then the best political spin is to say so and then beat his chest once he is proven correct.

He knows the number of ballots that are in the boxes and he know the PNP, JLP and neutral workers split. My calculations (see response to Karl) shows that providing that the numbers of neutral workers is small when compare to the margin of victory (34) then the prediction is safe.

We can do a tigher calculation, if the number of JLP, PNP and Neutral are each less that 17 then the prediction is very safe,

[Time]

So there were 268 votes in the box and it included ballots cast by the security forces. Now that we know that there was more that 102 votes in the box including votes for security workers which I did not know about when I made the calculations then can say that Danny boy should have kept his mouth shut.

[Time]

I now agree 100%.

[Karl]

Mr. Walker is confident that the outcome of the count will not affect the current seat standing of 33 for the JLP and 27 for the PNP.

Intemperate or just plain stupid remark!

The Director of Elections I am sure could not see in the closed and sealed boxes. He knew the total number of ballots that were in the box. He knew not amounts cast for either candidate...or so we assume...

...because if he did know...an irregularity would have had to take place and one approved by the Director of Elections if we accept his words.

...confident the JLP would win???? ...on what did he base his confidence???? ....another "Phinn"?