Three (3) ballots were unaccounted for. Relative to this
phenomenon the returning officer said :"On the 22nd day of December, 1997 during
the final count of ballots one of my assistants
brought the ballot box for polling station 64
in polling division 64 to the counting table.
When the box was opened I observed that
128 ballots were disfigured, that is, there
were marks for more than one candidate. I
summoned the presiding officer to the
counting centre and she came on the 23rd
day of December, 1997. I told her of the
condition in which I found the ballots and
that they were tampered with. She appeared
surprised. She told me that when the
preliminary count was done none of the
ballots was disfigured. I rejected the 128
ballots that were disfigured and they were
not considered in declaring the winner."
1.
,
.
Polling conducted by person not duly appointed for
the purpose: section 98.
2.
Open voting contrary to section 33 (1).
3.
Voting conducted in crowded and disorderly
circumstances: section 77 (1). Pastor Burchell McPherson
described the scene thus:
"When I arrived at St. Stephen's School I
saw no security personnel there. I saw three
polling divisions operating in a small room
which was approximately 20 feet x 12 feet.
There was one polling station in each polling
division and at each polling station there was
a small table on which stood a ballot box. A
presiding officer was seated around each
table. There were about 30 persons in the