The petitioners claimed that electoral officials used ‘photo lists’ instead of the Register for Elections, as prescribed by law for the conduct of the elections. Difficulties which developed in the printing of these lists caused some polling stations to open late. Voting then continued to various times past the 6.00pm scheduled closing time in some polling stations in the St. George and St. John’s Rural West constituencies. The petitioners claimed that the late voting breached Rule 1(7) of the Election Rules. This rule provides that polling in a general election shall be between the hours of 6.00am and 6.00pm on the day of the elections. The reasons for the late voting were disputed. However, the trial judge found that it occurred because persons, who were waiting in the line when the polling stations closed at 6.00pm, were permitted to vote after 6.00pm. There were 4,414 registered voters in the St George constituency. 3,488 electors voted. There were 20 rejected ballots. 926 or about 20.9% of the registered voters in that constituency did not vote. 79.1% of the electorate voted as opposed to 92.26% in the previous General Elections held in 2004; a difference of 13.1%. The respondent/appellant, Jacqui Quinn-Leandro received 1,985 votes. The respondent, Dean Jonas received 1,483 votes. The margin of appellant Quinn-Leandro’s victory was 502 votes. There were 3,577 registered voters in the St John’s Rural North constituency. 2,827 electors voted. There were 9 rejected ballots. 750 or about 20.97% of the voters registered in the constituency did not vote. 79.03% of the electorate voted as opposed to 91.10% in the previous General Election held in 2004; a difference of 12.07%. The respondent/appellant, John Maginley, received 1,462 of the votes cast. The petitioner/respondent, Charles Henry Fernandez, received 1,356 votes. The margin of appellant Maginley’s victory was 106 votes. There was no late voting in this constituency. There were 4,996 registered voters in the St John’s Rural West constituency. 4021 electors or 80.48% of the electorate voted in the constituency, as opposed to 89.48% in the previous General Election held in 2004, a difference of 9% voted. There were 9 rejected ballots. 975 or about 19.52% of the electorate registered in the constituency did not vote. The respondent/appellant, Winston Baldwin Spencer, received 2,259 votes. The opposition candidate, Gail Christian, received 1,743 votes. The margin of appellant Spencer’s victory was 506 votes. The petitioners prayed for orders declaring the elections in the 3 contested constituencies invalid. They contended that the elections were conducted in breach of electoral law. They also insisted that the elections were not conducted substantially in accordance with electoral law. They further contended that the matters which they complained of affected the results of the elections in the 3 contested constituencies. At the trial, the respondents to the petitions (the appellants in the appeal proceedings) insisted that late voting was never properly pleaded, or at all, in the petitions. They contended that this did not therefore arise as a triable issue. They also argued that the late opening of the polls and the use of the photo lists did not breach electoral laws. They contended that, in any event, their return as elected members of the legislature should not be invalidated because any breach of electoral laws that might have occurred did not 3

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