TOBAGO resident June Jack McKenzie will not be taking her challenge against the Election and Boundaries Commission’s report on the creation of three new electoral districts in Tobago to the Privy Council.

In March, two Appeal Court judges dismissed her appeal of Justice Avason Quinlan-Williams’s ruling that McKenzie should not have brought a judicial review application but filed an election petition after the December 6 polls for the Tobago House of Assembly if she wanted to challenge the illegality of the EBC’s actions.

Quinlan-Williams denied McKenzie permission to pursue her judicial review application. She appealed to the Court of Appeal which upheld Quinlan-Williams’s decision. The Tobago East resident was seeking the court’s permission to take her challenge to the Privy Council, but on Friday withdrew her application.

Her withdrawal application was granted by Justices of Appeal Alice Yorke-Soo Hon, Gregory Smith and Malcolm Holdip on Friday with no orders for costs.

It was McKenzie’s contention that the EBC should have selected Goodwood/Belle Garden West and not Providence/Mason Hall/Moriah.

The move to increase the electoral districts in Tobago was the result of a deadlock in the THA election in January 2021, in which the People's National Movement (PNM) and Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) each secured six districts.

The three new districts are Lambeau/Lowlands, Darryl Spring/Whim, and Mt St George/Goodwood. All but two of the original 12 districts were slightly modified to make the change.

The PDP secured a landslide victory in the December 6 election as it won 14 of the districts.