DIRECTOR of Elections Danville Walker is today expected to comment on the magisterial recount for South East St Andrew which ends today, which he hopes will quash allegations of irregularities in the counting of the ballots of the police, military and election day workers’ for the constituency.

A day into the count lawyers representing the Jamaica Labour Party’s Joan Gordon-Webley who lost to the People’s National Party’s Maxine Henry-Wilson, in a radio interview, alleged that additional boxes had been found and expressed doubt as to whether the police, military and election day workers votes in that constituency had been dealt with.

However, the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ), in a response yesterday afternoon, said it was encouraging such “persons to fully acquaint themselves with the procedures and check with their political parties as to the amount of votes cast… before speaking publicly and before the magisterial recount is completed”.

Speaking with the Observer last night, the director of elections refrained from commenting on the allegations, saying the EOJ would wait until the recount was completed before speaking.

“I have no comment until after the magisterial recount. I don’t understand how lawyers are commenting on a magisterial recount before it is over. They are always the ones hurrying to tell us we are not to talk about things that are before the courts. I think we will wait ’till tomorrow (today) when the count is over,” Walker said.

At the same time, the PNP, in a statement issued from Henry-Wilson’s constituency office yesterday, said it was concerned about the statements emanating from Gordon-Webley’s lawyers.

According to Henry-Wilson, “at the end of the first day of the recount the votes for the two candidates were virtually the same and there were no irregularities as reported in the media”.

Another PNP official, Julian Robinson, the councillor/candidate for the Trafalgar Division, told the Observer that at the end of yesterday’s recount 68 of 88 boxes had been counted. He was, however, unable to say the amount of ballots which had at that point gone to either candidate.

The EOJ had declared Henry-Wilson the winner of the seat with 5,126 votes to Gordon-Webley’s 4,589 in the September 3 general elections.