Judicial review of decision not to void poll in PM’s seat set for November 18

An application for permission to seek judicial review of a decision not to void the September 3 General Election in St Andrew West Central is scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court next month.

The November 18 date was set during a case management hearing in the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness easily won the election, tallying 7,054 votes to 4,953 for People’s National Party (PNP) candidate Paul Buchanan.

But days after the election, Buchanan challenged Holness’ victory before the Constituted Authority, which has the power to void the result of an election.

The authority noted in a public statement that Buchanan’s challenge relied on section 37 (e) of the Election Petition Act, which sets out some of the grounds on which the result of a poll can be voided.

But the authority said after careful consideration of affidavits submitted by Buchanan it found that the evidence presented did not satisfy the standard contemplated in section 37 (e).

As a result, the defeated PNP candidate, through his attorneys, filed a claim in the Supreme Court for leave to seek judicial review of the authority’s decision.

- Livern Barrett

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