UNC queries Multiple and significant inaccuracies in EBC Form 46 publication

Dear Mr Nanan,

Further to our conversation earlier, I write to request a complete public retraction in the print and electronic media of the Form 46 publication printed in the Daily Express of 16^thNovember 2016, and a full reprinting and circulation in the print and electronic media of the corrected information. I hereby request that the EBC desist from any further publication in other media including online publication until this matter has been satisfactorily resolved.

The damage that has already occurred as a result of this publication is irreparable as many persons who are eligible to vote in the upcoming elections have raised their concerns about the inaccuracies contained on your publication. It is entirely unsatisfactory, disappointing and untenable for this to have occurred shortly after the EBC was found to have acted illegally in the last general elections. It is now an affront to common sense to assume that this is yet another unintentional misstep by the EBC which has results adverse to the United National Congress.
I have attached hereto some of the inaccuracies the United National Congress has been able to detect, including the incomplete listing of candidate’s name and the untenable situations in which  UNC candidates are listed as PNM candidates. Moreover, in the case of the Tunapuna Regional Corporation, eight districts were completely excluded from the EBC publication.

The party views this incident with grave concern  and trepidation given that this list ought to have benefitted from multiple levels of verification before it was published, and we are aware of the significant confusion that these errors have caused in the minds of voters.

These actions of the EBC have the potential to undermine the democratic process that is an essential element of our country being a sovereign democratic state.

The EBC is entirely charged with the responsibility to overseer and administer the electoral  process and actions such as these will create in the minds of citizens the perception that the independence of the EBC has been compromised, a situation that could only lead to anarchy and the loss of confidence in our democracy.

I look forward to your urgent attention to this matter to ensure that the integrity of the election process is not further compromised.

Respectfully,

___________________

Davendranath Tancoo

General Secretary

Attached:

PORT OF SPAIN CORPORATION

DIEGO MARTIN REGIONAL CORPORATION

CHAGUANAS BOROUGH CORPORATION

ARIMA BOROUGH CORPORATION

PENAL/DEBE REGIONAL CORPORATION

PRINCES TOWN

SIPARIA REGIONAL CORPORATION 

SAN JUAN/LAVENTILLE REGIONAL CORPORATION

TUNAPUNA PIARCO REGIONAL CORPORATION