Duke on PSA voter irregularities : Talk to election officers
Friday 18 December 2020
Watson Duke, president-elect of the Public Service Association, celebrates with members of his new executive, after official results were confirmed on Thursday. - ROGER JACOB
Returning president of the Public Services Association (PSA) Watson Duke is urging disgruntled candidates and members to take up their concerns with the association s election committee, as he believes the voting process was free and fair.
The elections, held on Monday, came after three years of lawsuits raised when former candidate Gabriel Solomon questioned the validity of the PSA s voters list.
The elections were originally scheduled for November 23, but were delayed again to December 14 when High Court judge Nadia Kangaloo found duplications in the list presented by the association at the time.
Saunders: PSA results hollow victory for Duke
Oral Saunders
Photo source: Facebok
Oral Saunders one of the candidates for the Public Service Association s (PSA) elections, has said incumbent Watson Duke has nothing to celebrate after his reported victory, citing low voter turnout and complaints of irregularities at the polls.
In a video streamed on his Facebook page on Wednesday night, Duke announced that he had retained his role as president of the PSA, while reading from a document from the association s election officer, Selwyn Malcolm.
Speaking with Newsday on Thursday, Saunders said while he has no problem accepting defeat, he was concerned over the transparency of the voting process, and questioned the legitimacy of the results.
Duke declares victory in PSA elections
Thursday 17 December 2020
Public Services Association (PSA) President Watson Duke shows his voting fingers outside the Frederick Street polling station on Monday. - Jeff Mayers
Incumbent president of the Public Services Association (PSA) Watson Duke declared victory in the executive elections during a live stream video from his Abercromby Street, Port of Spain, office on Wednesday night.
The elections for the PSA’s leadership were held on Monday and preliminary results posted temporarily on the trade union’s Facebook page on Tuesday indicated Duke was in the lead.
Other candidates in the election were concerned over the delay in results, saying such a slow pace of counting was almost unheard of in the PSA’s history.
Official PSA election results yet to be declared
Curtis Cuffie -
After more than a day of counting ballots, the official results of the Public Services Association (PSA) elections were not declared up to 6 pm on Tuesday.
Speaking with Newsday earlier on Tuesday, sitting PSA president Watson Duke predicted the last of the ballots should have been counted by 5 pm but officials were unable to give any confirmation on an official winner up to an hour later.
Newsday understands the PSA s election officer Selwyn Malcolm was the only person counting ballots which led to the slow pace of results.
The election which was held on Monday was the result of three years of legal battles which began when former candidate Solomon Gabriel filed a lawsuit over concerns of a flawed voters list in 2017.