Pro­fes­sor Hamid Ghany

hamid.ghany@sta.uwi.edu

Last Sun­day, I looked at the bound­ary and seat changes made in the Rio Claro/Ma­yaro Re­gion­al Cor­po­ra­tion where one of the two ad­di­tion­al seats for these lo­cal gov­ern­ment elec­tions was cre­at­ed. This week, I am look­ing at the Cou­va/Tabaquite/Tal­paro Re­gion­al Cor­po­ra­tion where the oth­er ad­di­tion­al seat for these elec­tions was cre­at­ed.

The most com­plex and ex­ten­sive bound­ary changes for the 2023 lo­cal gov­ern­ment elec­tions were made in Cou­va/Tabaquite/Tal­paro where three elec­toral dis­tricts were re­named and the new elec­toral dis­trict of Cou­va West/Roys­to­nia was cre­at­ed. Oth­er bound­ary changes were al­so made else­where in the cor­po­ra­tion.

For this elec­tion, PDs 2065, 2070 and 2075 have been moved from Long­denville/Tal­paro to Ca­paro/Mamoral. In the 2019 lo­cal gov­ern­ment elec­tions PDs 2065 and 2070 were lo­cat­ed at the Mun­do Nue­vo RC Pri­ma­ry School, John Dil­lon Trace, Mun­do Nue­vo. PD 2065 was sub­di­vid­ed in­to two en­ti­ties and the cu­mu­la­tive re­sult for both PDs (2065 and 2070) was UNC - 194 and PNM - 109.

PD 2075 was lo­cat­ed at the Tal­paro RC Pri­ma­ry School, School Street, Tal­paro. At that PD, the votes of spe­cial elec­tors were in­ter­mixed with the elec­tion-day votes in ac­cor­dance with Elec­tion Rule 93 of the Rep­re­sen­ta­tion of the Peo­ple Act (Ch. 2:01). The UNC got 44 votes and the PNM got 75 votes.

The re­moval of these three PDs from Long­denville/Tal­paro to Ca­paro/Mamoral ought not to im­pact neg­a­tive­ly on the UNC that won both dis­tricts by fair­ly wide mar­gins in 2019. In Lon­denville/Tal­paro the over­all re­sult was UNC – 2,760 and PNM – 1,199, while the over­all re­sult in Ca­paro/Mamoral was UNC – 2,620 and PNM – 946.

In 2023, there is a straight fight be­tween the UNC and the PNM in Ca­paro/Mamoral, while there is a three-way fight in Long­denville/Tal­paro be­tween the UNC, PNM and PEP.

In or­der to cre­ate the new elec­toral dis­trict of Cou­va West/Roys­to­nia, PDs 3121, 3122, 3123, 3124, 3125, 3126, 3127, 3146, 3150, 3151 and 3152 were moved out of Cal­i­for­nia/Point Lisas. In terms of the break­down of where these PDs were lo­cat­ed in 2019 and the re­sults there, PDs 3121, 3122, 3123, 3124, 3125, 3126 and 3127 were all lo­cat­ed at the Cou­va East Sec­ondary School, Church Street, Cou­va. At PD 3121 the votes of spe­cial elec­tors were in­ter­mixed with the elec­tion-day votes in ac­cor­dance with Elec­tion Rule 93 of the Rep­re­sen­ta­tion of the Peo­ple Act (Ch. 2:01). PDs 3122 and 3127 were merged. The cu­mu­la­tive re­sult for all of these PDs com­bined was UNC – 216 and PNM – 876.

PD 3146 was lo­cat­ed at the Cou­va RC Pri­ma­ry School at the cor­ner of the South­ern Main Road and Smith Street, Cou­va, and the re­sult there was UNC – 174 and PNM – 72.

PD 3150 (which was sub-di­vid­ed in­to two en­ti­ties), PD 3151 and PD 3152 were all lo­cat­ed at the Cou­va South Gov­ern­ment Pri­ma­ry School, Lisas Road, Lisas Gar­dens, Cou­va. The cu­mu­la­tive re­sult for all of these PDs com­bined was UNC – 213 and PNM – 459. The cu­mu­la­tive val­ue of the PDs be­ing moved from Cal­i­for­nia/Point Lisas in­to the new elec­toral dis­trict of Cou­va West/Roys­to­nia, us­ing 2019 da­ta, is UNC – 603 and PNM – 1,407.

The oth­er elec­toral dis­trict from which PDs were moved in­to the new Cou­va West/Roys­to­nia seat was Car­li Bay/Cal­cut­ta No 3/Mc Bean. The af­fect­ed PDs are 3130, 3140 and 3145.

In terms of the break­down of where these PDs were lo­cat­ed in 2019 and their re­sults, PD 3130 was lo­cat­ed at the Cou­va East Sec­ondary School, Church Street, Cou­va. That PD was sub-di­vid­ed in­to three en­ti­ties and the cu­mu­la­tive re­sult there was UNC – 452 and PNM – 329.

PD 3140 was sub-di­vid­ed in­to four en­ti­ties and was lo­cat­ed at the Cou­va RC Pri­ma­ry School, cor­ner South­ern Main Road and Smith Street, Cou­va, while PD 3145 was al­so lo­cat­ed there. The cu­mu­la­tive re­sult for PDs 3140 and 3145 in 2019 was UNC – 633 and PNM – 414.

Based on the over­all 2019 re­sults in re­spect of all the PDs that have been moved in­to the new Cou­va West/Roys­to­nia elec­toral dis­trict from both the Cal­i­for­nia/Point Lisas and Car­li Bay/Cal­cut­ta No 3/Mc Bean elec­toral dis­tricts, it would ap­pear that the PNM ought to have the edge in this new­ly-cre­at­ed elec­toral dis­trict. The con­test here in 2023 is a straight fight be­tween the PNM and the UNC can­di­dates.

St Mary’s/Carlsen Field to Car­li Bay/Cal­cut­ta No 3/Mc Bean For the 2023 lo­cal gov­ern­ment elec­tions, PDs 2990 and 2996 have been moved from St Mary’s/Carlsen Field to Car­li Bay/Cal­cut­ta No 3/Mc Bean. In 2019, PDs 2990 and 2996 were lo­cat­ed at the Wa­ter­loo Sec­ondary School, Wa­ter­loo Road, Cara­pichaima. The cu­mu­la­tive re­sult for both PDs in 2019 was UNC – 365 and PNM – 149. The fi­nal to­tal re­sult in the 2019 lo­cal gov­ern­ment elec­tion here was UNC – 2,653 and PNM – 866 which would leave the UNC in a dom­i­nant po­si­tion even af­ter the re­moval of these two PDs.

In 2023, there is straight fight be­tween the PNM and the UNC in this elec­toral dis­trict.

For the 2023 lo­cal gov­ern­ment elec­tions, PDs 3056, 3098 and 3100 have been moved from Bal­main/Cal­cut­ta No 2 to Car­li Bay/Cal­cut­ta No 3/Mc Bean. In 2019, PD 3056 was lo­cat­ed at the Freeport Hin­du Pri­ma­ry School, Freeport Mis­sion Road, Freeport, and was sub-di­vid­ed in­to three en­ti­ties. The cu­mu­la­tive re­sult there was UNC – 459 and PNM – 135.

PDs 3098 and 3100 were both lo­cat­ed at the Cara­pichaima RC Pri­ma­ry School, Recre­ation Ground Road, St Mary’s Vil­lage, Cara­pichaima. Both PDs were sub-di­vid­ed in­to three en­ti­ties and the cu­mu­la­tive re­sults there in 2019 were UNC – 879 and PNM – 290. The fi­nal over­all 2019 re­sult in Bal­main/Cal­cut­ta No 2 was UNC – 3,282 and PNM – 995.

Con­verse­ly, PDs 3094, 3095 and 3115 were moved from Car­li Bay/Cal­cut­ta No 3/Mc Bean to Bal­main/Cal­cut­ta No 2. In 2019, PD 3094 was lo­cat­ed at the McBean Pres­by­ter­ian Pri­ma­ry School, Cal­cut­ta Road No 1, Mc Bean, and it was sub-di­vid­ed in­to two en­ti­ties. The cu­mu­la­tive re­sult there was UNC – 464 and PNM – 129.

PD 3095 was lo­cat­ed at the Mc Bean Hin­du Pri­ma­ry School, South­ern Main Road, Mc Bean, Cou­va. The re­sult there was UNC – 217 and PNM – 26.

PD 3115 was lo­cat­ed at the Ex­change RC Pri­ma­ry School, South­ern Main Road, Cou­va, and was sub-di­vid­ed in­to two en­ti­ties. The cu­mu­la­tive re­sult there was UNC – 209 and PNM – 63. As a con­se­quence of these changes to Bal­main/Cal­cut­ta No 2, that elec­toral dis­trict has been re­named Cou­va East/Bal­main.

In 2023, the con­test here is a straight fight be­tween the PNM and the UNC.

As a con­se­quence of the changes to Car­li Bay/Cal­cut­ta No 3/Mc Bean as well as the sub­stan­tial changes made there in or­der to cre­ate the new elec­toral dis­trict of Cou­va West/Roys­to­nia de­scribed above, Car­li Bay/Cal­cut­ta No 3/Mc Bean has been re­named Cal­cut­ta No 3/Mc Bean. In 2023, the con­test here is a straight fight be­tween the PNM and the UNC.

For the 2023 lo­cal gov­ern­ment elec­tions, PD 3085 has been moved from Bal­main/Cal­cut­ta No 2 to Brechin Cas­tle/Es­per­an­za. That PD was lo­cat­ed at the Bal­main Pres­by­ter­ian Pri­ma­ry School, School Street, Bal­main. The re­sult there was UNC – 228 and PNM – 58.

For the 2023 lo­cal gov­ern­ment elec­tions, PD 3185 was moved from Cal­i­for­nia/Point Lisas to Brechin Cas­tle/Es­per­an­za. That PD was lo­cat­ed at the Dow Vil­lage Gov­ern­ment Pri­ma­ry School, Dow Vil­lage, Cal­i­for­nia. The re­sult there was UNC – 89 and PNM – 46.

For the 2023 lo­cal gov­ern­ment elec­tions, PDs 3220 and 3225 have been moved from Brechin Cas­tle/Es­per­an­za to Cal­i­for­nia/Point Lisas. In 2019, both PDs were lo­cat­ed at the Clax­ton Bay Se­nior AC Pri­ma­ry School, School Street, Clax­ton Bay. PD 3220 was sub-di­vid­ed in­to two en­ti­ties, while PD 3225 was sub-di­vid­ed in­to three en­ti­ties.

The 2019 cu­mu­la­tive re­sults at these two PDs were UNC – 609 and PNM—417. The fi­nal 2019 re­sult for the Brechin Cas­tle/Es­per­an­za elec­toral dis­trict was UNC – 3,174 and PNM – 1,033. The re­moval of these two PDs ought not to ad­verse­ly af­fect the UNC’s dom­i­nance in this dis­trict since the con­test is a straight fight be­tween the PNM and the UNC.

For the 2023 lo­cal gov­ern­ment elec­tions, PD 3230 has been moved from Clax­ton Bay/Pointe-a-Pierre to Cal­i­for­nia/Point Lisas. In 2019 this PD was lo­cat­ed at the Union/Clax­ton Bay Sec­ondary School, South­ern Main Road, St Mar­garet’s Vil­lage, Clax­ton Bay, and it was sub-di­vid­ed in­to three en­ti­ties. The cu­mu­la­tive re­sult there was UNC – 418 and PNM – 385.

In 2019, the fi­nal to­tal for Clax­ton Bay/Pointe-a-Pierre was UNC – 2,993 and PNM – 1,887. The re­moval of PD 3230 ought not to dis­turb the dom­i­nance of the UNC in this elec­toral dis­trict, es­pe­cial­ly since it is a straight fight be­tween the PNM and the UNC in 2023.

As a con­se­quence of these bound­ary changes in­volv­ing Clax­ton Bay/Pointe-a-Pierre, Brechin Cas­tle/Es­per­an­za as well as the sub­stan­tial bound­ary changes made to Cal­i­for­nia/Point Lisas for the cre­ation of Cou­va West/Roys­to­nia, Cal­i­for­nia/Point Lisas has now been re­named Savonet­ta/Point Lisas and in 2023, the con­test there is a straight fight be­tween the PNM and the UNC.