HANOVER, Jamaica— With the possibility of a magisterial recount for ballots cast in Monday’s local government election in the division of Chester Castle, the victor Wynter McIntosh of the People’s National Party said such a move, if materialised, will not change the status of the Hanover Municipal Corporation.

At the end of the count on Wednesday, the PNP added three seats from the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) to the four it had before entering into the election.

Following a preliminary count on Monday, the political newcomer and educator Kaydeen Myles-Campbell of the JLP was said to have won the Chester Castle division by 17 votes. However, following the official count on Tuesday, McIntosh, a former mayor of Lucea won the seat by 181 votes.

On Monday, Myles-Campbell obtained 1,115 votes to 1,098 votes for McIntosh. However at the end of Tuesday’s official count of some 27 boxes by the returning officer Hermena Bucknor and her team, McIntosh received 1,195 votes in comparison to 1,014 for Myles-Campbell.

“All seven seats have been clearly won by the People’s National Party. There is no doubt that even if there is a magisterial recount, there can be not much of a difference. I think Riverside [Division in Hanover Western] is now probably the closest margin and I don’t think no magisterial recount would have changed that,” stated McIntosh.

Earlier on Wednesday, Member of Parliament for Hanover Eastern (JLP) Dave Brown, said dialogue will be had with Myles-Campbell and her workers before deciding whether the party will seek a magisterial recount or call it a day.

“Mrs Myles-Campbell was declared the winner on Monday night by 16 votes. [However], during the recount yesterday (Tuesday) it showed that Mr McIntosh won by 181 votes. So, we are only concerned about what transpired between Monday and yesterday during the recount to have overthrown that 17 and added 181. So, that is our concern and we are going to look at it before making a decision,” stated Brown.

On Wednesday, McIntosh shared a chronicle of how he was defeated and later rebounded in 24 hours.

“Monday night, the campaign in Haughton Grove was very festive. Somebody got a call while we were in the heat of our festivity that I was trailing my opponent by 17 votes. But then I said to myself that could not be correct. The fact is, I have checked all the results both for the JLP and the PNP across the 27 polling divisions and when I did that I realised that I was winning by 162,” stated McIntosh.

“So, to hear that I was trailing…, I was not disturbed by it because I know I was a victor but my constituents and divisional people were taken aback by it. But, yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon when the final count revealed that I was winning by 181 votes, there was a sea of orange here in Mount Peto last night because they were celebrating the victory and were ready to work,” added McIntosh.

Besides, McIntosh said, “but what we found out is that in one of the boxes, I got 34 more votes than Mrs Myles-Campbell because they had put the wrong figure on the ballot box. So, when it was revealed, I got 34 more votes. I think the presiding officer had written the wrong number.”

Now that McIntosh has secured his seat as councillor designate, he said, “my intention is to strengthen the political organisation in the division to make sure that when the next general election is called is that Hanover will be in the winning column for the People’s National Party. What it means is that putting a lot of emphasis on organisation and how we are going to be putting in whatever infrastructure in collaboration with the citizens across the length and breadth of the division to make sure that we have proper accountability as well for any allocation that is being given to you as the councillor.”

“I will also be lobbying some organisations to make sure that we can get any form of funding so that we can assist persons,” added McIntosh, who noted that there are a lot of needs in his division.

On Monday, it was said that the PNP had won six of seven seats within the Hanover Municipal Corporation. However, should there be no further change with the ongoing official count in the parish, the JLP will be without a seat in the corporation.