The Election Petition of Mr. Ezra Jhuboo has failed. On Monday 30th August 2021, Judge Jagessur-Manna and Judge Motoo held that this petition had absolutely no merit and that there was an utter failure to prove on the balance of probabilities that a partial recount should have taken place for the Constituency No 14.
The respondents in the case were the three elected candidates, namely Mr. Alan Ganoo, Mrs. M.S. Mayotte and Mr. N.P. Ramchurrun; the Electoral Commissioner, the Electoral Supervisory Commission and the Returning Officer of Constituency No 14.
The matter was mainly about the use of a computer room within the building of a counting center in Constituency No 14. Mr. Jhuboo had several reservations in relation to the purpose and use of this room and the possibility it could have had a negative impact on the counting of votes. He highlighted during the hearing of the case that he lodged this petition to shed light on what has happened in the “Computer Room”.
Amidst his various concerns, Mr. Jhuboo contested the facts that he was neither aware of the existence of the computer room on the compound of the counting center nor its role in counting the votes. He alleged that an officer of the Electoral Commission had denied him access to the room. Additionally, Mr. Jhuboo wished to know whether the lack of transparency surrounding this computer room could justify a recount.
The Electoral Commissioner and the Returning Officer of Constituency No 14 maintained that the room was only an administrative measure dedicated for data entry coming from the 30 counting rooms of Constituency No 14. The aim behind all this effort was to provide the public ‘real time information related to the 2019 General Elections on the Nomination Day, the Polling Day and the Counting Day.’
Moreover, the electoral commissioner argued that the room was not connected to the manual counting of the votes and as such, it was not a requirement to notify the candidates of their existence. The judges were of the opinion that, legally speaking, not all types of irregularities would justify a recount. They therefore held that the “failure to inform the candidates of the computer room is not, per se, a reasonable justification for a partial recount… “.
On the issue of Mr. Jhuboo being denied access by an officer, the judges had some reservations on his averments. According to them, should Mr. Jhuboo have any doubts about the computer room, he would have contacted the returning officer and the members of the Electoral Supervisory Commission to make a complaint. The judges were thus unconvinced of this allegation.
Mr. Jhuboo also submitted that the room was part and parcel of the counting process as the figures recorded in the counting rooms were being fed into the computers. He was attempting to demonstrate that the use of the computer room adversely affected and heavily prejudiced the counting process, and therefore, a recount was necessary. However, following the evidence and explanations by the Electoral Commissioner and the Returning Officer, the judges were satisfied that the computer room did not form part of the counting process and as such, “the figures input in the computer room did not have any bearing or incidence on the final results of the General Elections 2019 in Constituency No. 14.”
The Court refused to consider the question of transparency surrounding the computer room. They held that Mr. Jhuboo has to bring more evidence, material facts and irregularities to establish that the final results were affected. The Court stated that “The petitioner (Mr. Ezra Jhuboo) cannot, for that purpose, rely on the bare hypothesis that the computer room ‘could have led’ to irregularities or mistakes in the counting process to compel the court to embark into a ‘roving enquiry.”
After considering the other concerns brought by Mr. Jhuboo, the Court was of the opinion that the allegations of probable irregularities in the counting exercise and the computation of votes have remained wholly unsubstantiated. For these reasons, the demands of the petitioner were dismissed.
