Damion O. Crawford … times two!
Published:Tuesday | December 13, 2011 | 12:00 AM
WHEN THE People's National Party's (PNP) candidate for East Rural St Andrew, Damion Crawford, turned up at 11:30 a.m. to be nominated at the Gordon Town old courthouse in St Andrew, yesterday, he could not have imagined that another Damion Crawford would show up more than an hour later to complete his nomination as an independent candidate.
The Electoral Office of Jamaica's (EOJ) returning officer for East Rural St Andrew, Eric Malcolm, told The Gleaner yesterday that both men also shared the same middle initial: the letter 'O'.
The PNP's candidate for East Rural St Andrew, Damion Crawford, yesterday described the nomination of another man bearing his name as a political ploy by the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).
In a Gleaner interview, Crawford said he would not be deterred by the move.
"My greatest concern is that these people seek to mislead the people and win at all costs. It is unfortunate the antics they are carrying forward, but it just shows that we have galvanised the constituency sufficiently and that they are running scared," Crawford said.
The PNP's Crawford said he was concerned that the people in the constituency might be confused with the same names appearing on the ballot paper.
The EOJ's returning officer told The Gleaner that the independent candidate Crawford had submitted the symbol of a lion, which was not on the EOJ's list of approved symbols.
Malcolm said he advised the independent candidate Crawford that he should contact Director of Elections Orrette Fisher, who would assign him a new symbol.
According to the returning officer for East Rural St Andrew, both candidates would have different symbols on election day, December 29, so that their supporters would be able to make a distinction between them.
"I don't see a problem at present. We did our constitutional duties and we nominated the candidates who came prepared."
The two Crawfords will challenge the JLP's Joan Gordon-Webley.
An electoral official who spoke on condition of anonymity said that if electors placed an 'X' beside the two Crawfords, the vote would automatically be rejected.
In 2002, two persons with the name 'Patrick Roberts' - both legal - turned up at the St Andrew West Central constituency to be nominated.
In the upcoming election, the PNP's Patrick Roberts will do battle with JLP Leader Andrew Holness for the St Andrew West Central constituency.