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THE Opposition UNC claims the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) is being gradually unmasked as an extension of the PNM.
In a statement on April 16, party general secretary Peter Kanhai said Wendy Lewis complained she was not invited by the EBC to the handing over of special ballots to returning officers.
Lewis, the election agent for UNC San Fernando East candidate John Michael Alibocus, made the claim at a news conference on April 15.
She claimed she learnt about that exercise from the election agent for PNM San Fernando East candidate Brian Manning who was present for it on April 12.
Kanhai said the EBC sent a letter dated April 10 to the UNC, inviting it to send only one of its representatives to each of its venues in Port of Spain, San Fernando and Tobago for the handing over of special ballots to returning officer on April 12.
He claimed Manning's agent and six other PNM representatives were allowed to be present for handing over of special ballots in San Fernando.
Kanhai said the UNC was told two PNM representatives were present for the handover at the VIP Lounge at Queens Park Savannah, Port of Spain.
The UNC, he continued, has written to the Chief Elections Officer Fern Narcis-Scope to say it has lost confidence in EBC Deputy Chief Elections Officer Lena Sahadeo and her assistant Pamela Ogiste.
"In order to maintain what is left of the integrity of the process of these general elections, we publicly call upon the EBC to remove those officers immediately, since their bias and partiality towards the PNM will infect the entire election."
Kanhai expressed concern about comments which Narcis-Scope allegedly made in a newspaper article which appeared to be dismissive of Lewis' complaint.
In a response on April 16, the EBC said the situation arose from an "oversight" by the returning officer, who "neglected to immediately affix a seal to the empty ballot box while witnesses for candidates were present."
EBC said the oversight was "quickly identified" and the returning officer contacted representatives from the various political parties, who were present earlier in the day.
"However, despite numerous follow-up calls, the representative for the United National Congress did not come back to complete the procedure. As a result, the empty ballot box was sealed in the presence of a returning witness, two electors, the returning officer, and the election clerk. All necessary seals were signed and affixed to the ballot box according to the required process."
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