WESTMORELAND, Jamaica — Jamaica Labour Party  (JLP) candidate in the Westmoreland Eastern constituency Daniel Lawrence picked up one more vote from previously rejected ballots than the People’s National Party (PNP’s) incumbent Luther Buchanan, as the magisterial recount for the seat continued in the Savanna-la-Mar Parish Court this morning.

Up to the lunch break, at 1:00 pm, Lawrence had gained six additional votes and Buchanan, five.

With Saturday’s count added to this morning’s numbers, Lawrence has a total of 24 votes from the rejected ballots while Buchanan has 14.

So far, a total of 92 out of 117 boxes have been counted.

Lawyers representing Lawrence filed the application for the magisterial recount on September 8, after an official count by the Electoral Office of Jamaica declared Buchanan the winner in the constituency by one vote, following the intervention of the returning officer.

They had each obtained 4,834 votes, while independent candidate Haile Mika’el had received 34 votes. A total of 107 ballots were rejected.

As a result of the tie, the returning officer for the constituency cast the deciding vote by blindly pulling one of two ballots with the names of both candidates from a box. The ballot with Buchanan’s name was drawn.

Anthony Lewis