Right now, the Constituency of Stann Creek West is caught in limbo. They don't know who's their area representative. And, because the race is so close between the UDP's Walter Garbutt, and the PUP's Rodwell Ferguson, this division's election outcome will be decided in court.
As we reported during our election coverage last night, the UDP's Walter Garbutt was declared as the winner. Shortly after that, the results were disputed on the premise that the returning officer, Victor Paulino, had omitted the results of 2 boxes from the grand total of votes. When those were factored in, the new declaration was that the PUP incumbent Rodwell Ferguson had won by 8 votes.
Garbutt called for a recount which started this afternoon in Dangriga Town under the watch of party officials and attorneys from both mass parties. Since then, the situation has been complicated further by the discovery that votes which passed scrutiny as valid, ended up rejected in this recount, and votes which were rejected, have now been passed. As of half hour ago, the ballots from last 2 of the 19 boxes were being counted, and that result should come out during this newscast.
We'll share it with you, but for right now, that will not matter. That's because as soon as the counting is finished, the attorneys of the declared loser will move to start preparing documents for an election petition. Those are argued and determined at the Supreme Court, which means it will be some time before an official winner is declared - leaving the seat count at 19 for the UDP, 11 for the PUP and one undecided.
