A HIGH COURT judge has thrown out the election petition of the losing candidate in the Arima Northeast local government district.

On Monday, Justice Frank Seepersad dismissed the petition of the UNC’s candidate Jairzinho Domingo Gustav Rigsby.

On September 11, Chief Election Officer Fern Narcis-Scope filed a motion to dismiss the petition because it was not served on the seat’s winner, Kim Garcia.

In the application, the CEO said the election rules and the Representation of the People Act required the petition to be served on the person whose election was complained of and it was not.

“The settled law is that the ROP Act and the election proceedings rules provide a comprehensive and exclusive statutory scheme with mandatory procedural rules for challenging the validity of an election or the return of’ a candidate as the elected representative in an election.

“Time limits set in election legislation are to be strictly adhered to and adherence is regarded as a prerequisite to the advancement of a petition.

“Representation petitions must therefore be brought strictly in accordance with the requirements of the statute.

“Failing this, a petition is a nullity and will be dismissed or struck out.”

Rigsby did not serve Garcia with notice of the petition nor was she named as a respondent as required by section 110 of the act and rule 8(1) of the election rules.

The Arima Northeast election petition is the second challenge to the results brought by the Opposition United National Congress (UNC); the other being the Lengua/Indian Walk district.

The petition is based on what transpired after a recount and review of that recount for the Arima Northeast district and Rigsby has taken issue with two ballots which he contends should not have been deemed valid.

On election night, a tally of the votes saw the UNC and the People’s National Movement receiving 623 votes each.

On August 15, the UNC requested a recount which led to the Opposition party receiving one more vote.

The EBC then accepted a request from the PNM for a check of that recount.

It issued a statement on August 24 that the PNM candidate, Kim Magdalene Garcia, received two additional votes when that check was done.

It said, "This result overturns the outcome of the recount, which was conducted during the period August 16-17, 2023 and saw the UNC candidate Jairzinho Domingo Gustav Rigsby being declared the winner."

The result of the second recount gave the PNM 625 votes and the UNC 624.

It is the counting of these two votes in the final tally that Rigsby is contending came from questionable ballots and should not have been allowed or deemed valid or even counted in Garcia’s favour.

Rigsby is represented by attorneys Dinesh Rambally, Kiel Taklalsingh, Stefan Ramkisson, Rhea Khan, Kavita Moonsar and Arif Rahman.

Attorneys Deborah Peake, SC, Ravi Heffes-Doon and Alana Bissessar represent the EBC.

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