By John Myers, Freelance WriterCLARENDON:
JAMAICA LABOUR Party candidate Rudyard Spencer has extended his lead over his People's National Party rival Basil Burrell in the official recount of ballots for South East Clarendon.
Returning Officer Rev. Winston Thomas announced at the end of the official recount of the ballots on Friday night, that Spencer won the seat by 571 votes. The final count was 7,997 votes, which was 237 votes above the preliminary count on Wednesday night.
Burrell also received 82 additional votes, which brought his count up to 7,426, while National Jamaica Alliance candidate Andrade Sinclair's tally also rose, from 111 to 152.
Although the heavy rains put a damper on activities on Election Day, there was a 58.5 per cent turnout of voters in the constituency - 15,325 persons cast their ballots of the 26,196 registered to vote.
In an interview with The Gleaner, Mr. Spencer said he had expected to defeat his main opponent Mr. Burrell based on what he said is the positive feedback he has received from the people in the constituency leading up to the General Election.
"We did everything to win - we had the people's support, we had a proper organisation and the people wanted a change in this constituency," Mr. Spencer said.
The new representative says his focus will be on youth employment, training, upgrading of the Lionel Town Hospital and improvements to the physical infrastructure, such as drainage.
