STOUTT WINS BY-ELECTION

By Mellica McPherson

 There was rejoicing at the Sir Rupert Briercliffe Hall on the morning of Tuesday 6 September as Supervisor of Elections Juliette Penn officially declared Mr. Elmore Stoutt the BVI’s new Territorial-at-Large Representative.

The suspense began when the last ballot box from Huntums Ghut arrived. Tension grew as all ears and eyes were fixed on Returning Officer Antoinette Skelton as she read all of the votes and the tallied scores.  The count began in descending order from the Ninth District downward.

The first set of scores did not shock anyone because the masses knew that Virgin Gorda is regarded as VIP land, therefore it was not strange that the VIP candidate Mr. Vernon Malone garnered 99 votes in North Sound and 224 in The Valley. 

Mr. Stoutt was close behind him bringing in an impressive 71 in North Sound, and 219 in The Valley. United Party Candidate Conrad Maduro received three votes in North Sound and one in The Valley. Independent Candidate Courtney DeCastro received two votes in The Valley.

The race was getting very close as Stoutt led with 403 votes, but no one dared to assume the winner as the forecast became unpredictable with the voting patterns changing in the various Districts.

By the time the ballot boxes for the Eighth, Seventh and Sixth Districts were opened predictions were made by onlookers of the count. Many calculated that Mr. Stoutt would have dominated the votes in District Seven and Eight and that Mr. Malone would have gotten the majority of the votes in the Sixth District. Therefore when the Returning Officer announced that both Mr. Stoutt and Mr. Malone had tied with 13 votes each in Hope Hill many became concerned. However, the concerns soon evaporated as the predictions began to be fulfilled with Stoutt receiving 316 votes Malone  getting 208 in East End.

Then just as was predicted the NDP candidate took the reins in the Seventh District as he brought in 271 in Long Look, while the VIP candidate gathered 157. The shock for the waiting BVI public came when the results for the Sixth District were announced.  To the astonishment of the audience it did not follow the predicted pattern — instead of Stoutt trailing after Malone in that District, which is described as predominantly VIP — NDP candidate Stoutt took the lead with 51 in Bellevue while Malone got 37. The Baughers Bay margin was very slim though, as Mr. Stoutt exceeded Mr. Malone by 11 votes, and Mr. Stoutt brought in 231 and Malone got 220.

The forecast came back on-stream when the ballots for the Fifth District were counted, and sure enough Stoutt blazed the trail as he received 83 votes in Long Trench  and 230 in Huntums Ghut. Malone received 52 votes in Long Trench and 147 in Huntums Ghut.

It was in Road Town that the entire prediction had to be scrapped, since everyone believed that because the representative of Road Town was a VIP member the majority of the vote from that District would have gone to Malone. That was certainly not the case as the Returning Officer called out 308 votes for Stoutt, and the public compared them to the 190 Malone obtained.

New hope sprung up as Malone carried the torch in the Third District taking 300 votes, leaving Stoutt with 203.

By the time the ballot boxes from the Second District were open no one knew how the votes would go, nobody attempted to predict, and many crossed their fingers and listened as Mrs. Skelton announced that Stoutt earned 87 votes in Meyers Estate, and Malone got 69. The latter led in the polls at Brewers Bay where he was given 40 votes, while Stoutt had only 38, but that was not enough to change Malone's luck at the polls as by then Stoutt's win seemed evident, yet no one dared to say it for fear of a dramatic turnaround.  Malone continued to trail in Cane Garden Bay bringing in 50 votes, while his opponent delivered a mighty 113. Jost Van Dyke was no different as the residents displayed that they heeded the lyrics of the NDP jingle and showed that they will stay with the NDP. They proved this  by awarding Stoutt 45 votes and giving Malone 13.

It was at this moment that Mr. Vernon Malone walked into the Briercliffe Hall, and in due course conceded defeat, without waiting for the final two ballot boxes to be counted. Even though the VIP candidate got 79 more votes than Stoutt in Carrot Bay, he knew that it was too great of a gap to fill, and so the Zion Hill polls, which awarded Stoutt with 195 votes and Malone 190, ended any further speculation. 

After an endless night of counting, the votes were all in and the master ranking board showed that Elmore Stoutt had received 2,570 votes, while Vernon Malone received 2,167. The United Party Candidate, Mr. Conrad Maduro received 144 votes, and Independent Candidate Courtney DeCastro got 19 votes. Out of 10,124 eligible voters, there was a 48.9 percent turn out. 4,946 ballots were cast, 4,900 were counted as valid, while 46 were rejected for discrepancies such as persons voting for two candidates on the same ballot, or voters signing their names on the ballot sheet.

Chief Minister, Dr. the Hon. D. Orlando Smith, Deputy Chief Minister, Ronnie Skelton, Representative of the Fifth District, Hon. Delores Christopher and of course the man of the hour himself Mr. Elmore Stoutt were present to hear the announcement of the final scores. Stoutt and Malone shook hands and exchanged congratulations. Many rushed to congratulate Mr. Stoutt on his victory, and a number of key questions were asked of him. Honourable Stoutt said that he was excited about his winning, and explained that his decision to join the political arena was influenced by his desire to work for the people and to put their need first. "That was my main reason and it still is." Mr. Stoutt said that economic empowerment and education will be at the top of his priorities, explaining that the two go hand in hand. He thanked God for his victory.

The newly elected Territorial-at-Large Representative said that he has a concern about the way things are in the political arena, he pointed out that one of the problems is bad ethics. "We must realize that truth must be truth. anything else becomes deception." He referred to the by-election results as a close call, which he said, "it wasn't an easy win because the low turnout at the polls could have affected it, although people came out. The people have spoken." Mr. Stoutt referred to the retirement ball and gala held in his honour as a means of the people showing him off — this, he said, was because the people of the BVI know that he has always put them first. Mr. Stoutt promised to be true, and accountable to the people. When asked if he would be serving as a Minister with portfolio, Stoutt said "to serve as a Minister is at the wishes of the Chief Minister. I didn't come to be a grab it, or a grasper; I am here to represent the people."

Chief Minister, Dr. the Hon. D. Orlando Smith said that the NDP’s new Territorial-at-Large Representative will be able to greatly assist in the area of education.

Mr. Malone said, "we have all worked very hard and learned a lot and I plan to put what I have learned into the 2007 election. I am in the campaign mode for 2007 and as I have said before--I am in for the long haul. I think a message has been sent to the NDP because this by-election has shown a large number of defectors from NDP to VIP. The people have spoken on the issues of the CCT Boatphone liberalization situation, the petty contracts and the clientelism issues. All of these would become permanent VIP platforms. I am inviting Government to look at these issues. I have had an opportunity to see the living conditions of poor people and I will continue to bring these issues to the forefront."

His Excellency the Governor who had stayed at the Briercliffe Hall all night told the media that he was pleased with the peaceful manner in which the elections were conducted. He noted that while the voter turnout was not as high as anticipated, the elections nevertheless gave the people of the BVI a chance to have their say in democratically electing a representative.

After the new Territorial-at-Large Representative had been declared, Mrs. Penn thanked Mrs. Antoinette Skelton for the excellent work she had done as Returning Officer. Mrs. Skelton and her team of 15 tally clerks began the counting process at approximately 8:00 pm on the 5 September and worked tirelessly throughout the night not stopping until the final vote had been counted at 7:56 am the following morning.  Mrs. Skelton was very attentive to the task given her as she worked continuously, ensuring that she rotated her team but never taking a break herself. She preferred to stand throughout the night sitting only when her feet got extremely tired and in most cases only for five minutes. The Territorial By-Election was called by Government after the death of Territorial-at-Large Representative and Minister of Communications and Works, Hon. Paul. P. Wattley who died on 6 June.  Now that the new Territorial Representative has been elected, the appointment of a Minister of Communications and Works will be the next step.