Jamaican High Court rules against JLP candidate-by-election ordered

A High Court judge on Tuesday ordered fresh elections in the Yallahs Division of the St. Thomas Municipal Corporation after voiding the election of the ruling Jamaica Labor Party (JLP) candidate, Dean Jones.

Jones won the seat in the division in the Local Government elections in November 2016.

Chief Justice Bryan Sykes, said the new election must be held “in the shortest possible time” as his ruling gives the opposition People’s National Party (PNP) a 5-4 advantage in the Corporation.

The Court found that Jones, who won the seat in the November 2016 Local Government election, was a public employee at the time of the elections.

Jones had defeated the PNP’s Constantine Bogle, but the defeated candidate challenged the victory on grounds that at the time of the poll, Jones was not a resident of the division, while also being a public servant, both in breach of electoral laws.

Sykes found that while there was not sufficient evidence before the court to make a determination on whether Jones resided in the division at the time of the election, he ruled nonetheless that Jones was a public employee on the date of the local government elections.

“Therefore, he was not eligible to be elected as a councillor,” the judge added.