Polling Division 23
The constituted Authority moves the Court to say that doubt has been cast
on the integrity of the votes counted for the candidate declared elected on two
bases.
1.
That a large number of votes were cast between 2.15 p.m.
and 5.30 p.m. which indicates that the proper procedure
could not have been followed. It is alleged that 370 voters
voted in approximately 3 hours, i.e. 180 minutes.
Ancel Thomas the Returning Officer has deposed that it takes at least two
(2) minutes for an elector to cast a vote. The implication is that approximately
twelve (12) hours would have been required for 370 voters to cast their votes. I
am not convinced that this evidence leads inexorably to the conclusion that the
integrity of the votes counted for the candidate declared elected, is
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compromised, or to use the language of the statute, that doubt has been cast on
the integrity of the votes counted for the candidate declared elected.
In areas where the voters are known to all and sundry, small
communities, the process is much quicker.
A lot of the questions which are
required to be put to the elector become unnecessary because the elector is well
known by the presiding officer, the poll clerk and the indoor agents.
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2.
That some voters refused to dip their fingers in the ink after
voting and their votes were deposited in the ballot box and
taken into account in deciding the winner.