Election and Boundaries Commission's (EBC) chief elections officer Ramesh Nanan said yesterday he was yet to get any complaint from the Independent Liberal Party (ILP) about the failed nomination of its Tabaquite candidate Hayden Borrell.
The ILP has threatened to take action against EBC's returning officer Carol Dyal after she denied Borrell an opportunity of filing his nominations because he arrived at the office too late.
Borrel is claiming that he arrived at the Couva-Tabaquite-Talparo Regional Corporation (CTTRC) at 2.57 pm but Dyal is insisting that Borrell arrived at 3.04 pm. Nominations were received between 9 am to 3 pm.
In an interview yesterday Nanan said: "As of 2 pm, I have received no correspondence from the ILP. At this point I am not in receipt of any such letter from the ILP. I don't know what the contents will be so I can't comment."
He said he could not recall any incident where nomination papers were rejected on the basis of tardiness.
Asked what was a possible outcome and whether there was any possibility that Borrell will be given a second chance, Nanan responded: "I am not in a position to say that. If and when a letter comes, I will take note of the contents. I will have to contact the EBC's legal counsel."
Meanwhile, EBC's communications manager, Dominic Hinds says the EBC's board would have to adjudicate on whether Borrell would be given another opportunity to file his nomination.
He said if Borrell had arrived before 3 pm, he would have already been in the building so his application would have been processed.
"From our information he actually came at 3.07 pm. It's just like on election day. If you come a few minutes after poll closes then you won't be allowed to vote." Hinds said Dyal was in the process of filing a report.
Borrell too busy to respond
Contacted on his cellphone yesterday, Borrell said he had no time to comment. Asked why he went late to the venue, Borrell said he was on two other calls and was unable to speak at the time.
He advised this reporter to contact him in ten minutes. However, repeated calls to his cellular phone were made between 11 am and 2.30 pm and there was no answer.
On a few occasions, the call was terminated.
ILP's deputy political leader Sunil Ramjitsingh said yesterday the letter was being drafted and would be sent to the Chief Elections Officer. Contacted yesterday, Dyal said she was in the process of writing a report to the EBC.