WALKER... all the results are preliminary until the final count

A tense calm prevailed in the White Horses local government division of Western St Thomas last night after supporters of the two major political parties, riled over an error in a preliminary list of winners from last Thursday's local government elections, threatened to torch each other's homes.

Yesterday, director of elections, Danville Walker, confirmed that there were likely to be errors in the list from his office, showing People's National Party (PNP) candidate, Maggrine Morris, the winner in White Horses over the Jamaica Labour Party's Hanniff Brown. Brown's victory would give the JLP eight of the seats in the 10-member council.

HENRY-WILSON... we are aware of the situation and we are going to sort it out today with the Electoral Office

But Walker said that the list, published by the Sunday Observer, and clearly headed as preliminary, should not have been released to the press. The JLP won majority of the 13 councils, with one, Clarendon being tied. The control of that council will go to whoever gets the vote from the principal returning officer in deciding on the chairman. The chairman has an original and casting vote.

"I know there are other errors on the list," Walker told the Observer. "I am not surprised at all. In the heat of the night people send results ... All the results are preliminary until the final count and it's the final count that declares the winner." Even after final counts, Walker stressed, there could still be changes if candidates challenged the outcome. "When you go to magisterial recount that may well change it too," Walker said.

But apparently such nuances were lost on the political partisans in White Horses, where the JLP's Brown had led by nine votes in the preliminary count last Thursday and was confirmed the winner by 18 votes in the final count on Saturday.

JOHNSON... tension fuelled in part by the perception that seats were slowly decreasing after other apparent reversals

"The people (JLP supporters) are confused," said James Robertson, the JLP's parliamentary representative for Western St Thomas. "Some are angry, believing that they stole the seat from them... Both sides are threatening to burn down each other's homes tonight (last night)."

Last night PNP general secretary, Maxine Henry-Wilson, said that her party would move to help settle confusion that had arisen.

"We are aware of the situation and we are going to sort it out today with the Electoral Office," Henry-Wilson told the Observer.

According to Senator Anthony Johnson, who chairs the JLP's electoral committee, the tension in St Thomas was fuelled in part by the perception among some of the party's supporters that it seats were slowly decreasing after other apparent reversals.

For instance, in the Ocho Rios division in St Ann, the JLP's Cyril Dennis was initially reported to have won the seat -- and listed as such in the preliminary report from the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ). But that was reversed for the PNP's Carrol Jackson.

In Kingston and St Andrew, the PNP's deputy general secretary, Linton Walters, was also reported to have lost a PNP 'safe division' until the final count showed that he had actually won.

In the most dramatic reversal in Annotto Bay, St Mary the JLP's Hugh Bryan was initially declared the winner by one vote, but the final count held that he actually tied with the PNP's Patrick White. The returning officer, who by law had to cast a final vote, decided to flip a coin, which fell in favour of White.

The PNP's Henry-Wilson, like the EOJ's Walker, said that it is always expected that there would be changes after preliminary counts. "It happens," she said. If there was any misunderstanding on the part of the PNP's supporters "we want to sort it out".

With PNP supporters erroneously celebrating their candidate's victory, the JLP's Robertson said he was heading to St Thomas, hoping to head off trouble and to reassure supporters.

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