Milling crowds filled the dark precincts of the Anguilla House of Assembly, and inside its just-renovated chambers, for the electronic counting of ballots on Monday night, June 29.
The anxious crowds were in time to witness the arrival of the twenty tabulating machines, other election equipment and boxes brought in from the several electoral districts by security personnel.
When all was ready for the counting of the ballots, the Supervisor of Elections, Mr. Rodney Rey, told his listeners in part: “It has been a very long but exciting day, and we are at the concluding phase of the 2020 General Elections – that is the tabulation of the results…The electronic tabulating machines have put us in a very small band of at least three territories in this part of the world: the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands and Anguilla. This is a joint effort of the local Government and the British Government which shared the cost of these machines.”
He continued: “On the table are twenty pouches representing the twenty polling stations we have across the island in the seven electoral districts. The Elections Act says that we should open each pouch, one at a time, and cause an IT technician to insert in each a media stick, one at a time, into a laptop to access the results of the poll in each district. Then we will cause the overhead display screen, linked to the laptop…,to show the results of the poll for each electoral district simultaneously. We are hoping that the process will run smoothly and quickly. We do not intend to be here, traditionally, until 4 am. We invite you to share in this exercise with your eyes and your ears.”
The results of the District Elections were as follows: District 1, Island Harbour: Dr. Ellis Lorenzo Webster, Leader of the Anguilla Progressive Movement (APM): 493 votes; Mr. Oris Smith of the Anguilla United Front (AUF): 336 votes; Ms. Palmavon Webster, former Independent Elected Representative, 167 votes; District 2, Sandy Hill: Mrs. Cora Richardson Hodge (AUF), 318 votes; Mr. Jerome Roberts (APM), 302 votes. District 3, Valley North: Mr. Evans McNiel Rogers, (AUF): 697 votes; Mr. Courtney Morton (APM), 657 votes; District 4, Valley South: Dee-Ann Kentish Rogers, (APM): 861 votes; Leader of the AUF and former Premier, Mr. Victor Banks, 755 votes; District 5, Road North: Mr. Merrick Richardson, (APM): 386 votes; Mrs. Evalie Bradley, (AUF) 238 votes; Mr. Rommel Hughes (Independent), 89 votes; District 6, Road South: Mr. Haydn Hughes, (APM): 727 votes; Mr. Curtis Richardson (AUF), 540 votes; District 7, West End: Mr. Cardigan Connor (AUF), 286 votes; Ms. Kimberly Fleming (APM), 263 votes; and Mr. Jamie Hodge (Independent), 72 votes.
The winners of the At-Large or Island-wide elections were: Mr. Kyle Hodge (APM): 3,557 votes; Mr. Jose Vanterpool AUF): 2,983 votes; Mr. Kenneth Hodge (APM), 2,917 votes; and Mrs. Quincia Gumbs-Marie (APM) 2,840 votes.
The unsuccessful At-Large or Island-wide AUF candidates were: Mr. Othlyn Vanterpool; Mr. Mark Romney and Mr. Lockhart Hughes. And the unsuccessful At-Large or Island -wide APM candidate was: Kennedy Hodge.
The unsuccessful Island-wide Independent Candidates were: Mrs. Aunika Webster-Lake; Mr. Sutcliffe Hodge; Ms. Glenneva Hodge; Mr. Brent Davis; Ms. Merlin Duncan-Webster; Mr. Elkin Richardson; and Dr. Lanny Hobson.
The detailed overall elections results, obtained from the Central Electoral Office are published elsewhere in this edition of The Anguillian newspaper.
Meanwhile, in the district elections, Dr. Webster, Leader of the APM, requested a recount of the votes in Districts 2, 3 and 7 where the AUF candidates were successful. There was no change in the voting results.
