By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

DEMOCRATIC National Alliance Leader Branville McCartney has questioned the integrity of Wednesday’s advanced poll, as he and members of his party yesterday suggested that the ballot boxes are not being kept in a secure location.

The DNA also outlined several issues and missteps surrounding sealing and transportation of those ballots.

Mr McCartney alleged that several ballot envelopes were incorrectly sealed, suggesting that this could open a door to a number of concerns.

He spoke to reporters at the DNA’s headquarters on East Street South.

A perturbed Mr McCartney also indicated that those allegedly incorrectly sealed envelopes were later packed away in faulty boxes and transported to an unsecured stairwell at the Parliamentary Registration Department’s Farrington Road location.

In particular, Mr McCartney claimed that the Mount Moriah ballot box had not been adequately sealed, alleging that on at least two occasions while being transported from the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium to the Parliamentary Registration Department, officials attempted to “better address” the box.

At the time of his press conference, Mr McCartney did not identify the source of the information he was relaying to media, only noting that members of his party were on hand for every step of the process.

However, later in the day, the party’s Pinewood candidate Lincoln Bain; Nassau Village candidate Mario “Ducky” Lockhart and Garden Hills candidate Youri Kemp, jointly took to social media to detail similar claims.

In a video live streamed to Facebook, the three men were seen manoeuvring in and around the Parliamentary Registration Department, openly questioning the department’s security protocol.

In a 13-minute long video, both Mr Bain and Mr Lockhart questioned staff at the office over the placement of the boxes.

The pair, in a short exchange with a police officer posted at the office, asked whether they were permitted to record their video. The two men then proceeded to illustrate how easy it would be for someone unauthorised to access the ballot boxes.

“We are here by the stairwell where the ballot boxes are being kept,” stated Mr Bain in the video.

“This is where the ballot boxes are being kept. A table is blocking the stairwell,” he continued, as he panned from a sign posted to a wall reading “Do Not Enter, Authorised Personnel Only” above the table.

“This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen in my life. A table is blocking the stairwell where the Parliamentary Registration Office (has the ballots), and this is being secured by a stairwell.

“Eight thousand ballots are down there in some boxes. Six per cent of the vote, a table is protecting them.”

The pair then moved to the exterior of the building where they were joined by Mr Kemp.

The three men again questioned who made the ruling to house Wednesday’s ballots in such an unsecured facility. The trio further suggested that the ballots should have been sealed, boxed and transported to the offices of Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade.

Parliamentary officials could not be reached to comment on these allegations, although Parliamentary Commissioner Sherlyn Hall held a press conference about the advanced poll earlier in the day.

Mr Hall has confirmed that his three-year contract expired yesterday, however it is unclear if he will be replaced before the general election on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Mr McCartney said whether they want to or not, the government ought to move to have Mr Hall removed all together, while also taking responsibility for the failures of Wednesday’s advanced polls.

Mr McCartney noted improprieties in the handling of ballots in the 1987 general election, which led many in the public to refer to that process as an election “stolen” by the Progressive Liberal Party.

He added that officials must move to sterilise the voting process ahead of next week’s general election or face criticism of tainted ballots.

According to Mr McCartney, very few of his party’s poll workers were allowed to vote on Wednesday.

The Parliamentary Registration Department was expected to release a statement Thursday in response to the claims, however, one was not issued up to press time.

Mr Hall’s tenure at the department has been tenuous. In addition to Wednesday’s botched poll, Mr Hall also oversaw last June’s gender equality referendum, another polling exercise marred with controversy.