Walker DIRECTOR OF Elections, Danville Walker, has blamed TRW, the American company which provided the voter registration system for the December 1997 general election, for the names that were missing from the voters list.
Mr. Walker was testifying yesterday in the Election Court in the petition brought by attorney-at-law Abe Dabdoub who was the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) candidate in the December 1997 general election for St. Catherine Northeast. Phyllis Mitchell, the People's National Party (PNP) candidate, won the seat by 30 votes.
Dabdoub is seeking to unseat Mitchell because of alleged irregularities which took place in the constituency on election day. Dabdoub is also contending that several of his supporters were duly enumerated to vote but their names did not appear on the voters list.
Mr. Walker, responding to Dabdoub's contentions yesterday, outlined the methods he used to ensure that all the names were on the list. He said at the time the list was certified on November 29, 1997, he was not aware that the names of persons who completed the enumeration forms were missing.
Question: What explanation can be given for the names of persons being omitted from the list?
Walker: As I said in regards to the processing and production of the list, they were in the hands of TRW and there were times when data would be lost and we would have to re-enter that data. Therefore, my only explanation for someone who was omitted from the list would be that somewhere in the TRW processing, the data was lost. I was never advised by them (TRW) prior to certification (of the voters list) that any data was missing."
Mr. Walker, who was being examined by attorney-at-law Nicole Foster, from the Attorney-General's Department, spent several minutes explaining to the court the different steps he took to ensure that all those who were enumerated were placed on the voters list and correct information was provided for all of them.
He said it was a very expensive exercise because he had to house all those who worked in the enumeration exercise in Kingston. He said the workers from all 60 constituencies worked in one large area at the Conference Centre, downtown Kingston, from November 14 to November 26, 1997 so that all the information would be available to correct errors. He said he was with the staff during the entire period and they worked up to midnight each day.
The hearing continues today before Mr. Justice Basil Reid in the Supreme Court.
Attorneys-at-law Headley Cunningham, Q.C. and Glen Cruickshank are representing Mitchell. Dabdoub is being represented by attorney-at-law Ernest Smith.
