Parliamentary Commissioner, Harrison Thompson led a press conference yesterday to provide clarity about a confrontation that occurred outside of the Golden Isles advance poll on Monday.

Thompson denied that anything untoward occurred at the advance poll and said the uproar outside of the venue was not justified. He said, “every ballot was issued, recorded and secured in the presence of all authorized agents. Every envelope and every package was signed by the agents themselves, nothing was moved or sealed without their full view or participation.”

When asked about what led to the standoff following the voting, Presiding Officer Montez Williams recounted what happened after the ballots were secured. He said, “the van was reversed into the auditorium and every representative watched the hatch of the van open, the ballot box placed there along with the sealed box of counterfoils. We were all in a very pleasant mood and there was no complaint. What happened afterwards when we began to exit the building that is another matter.”

Returning Officer, Neil Campbell cautioned citizens about making unfounded assertions about public officials. “I say that because even in preparing for this election we had persons who almost foresaw this. You know, and they were saying that they are not interested in serving and after the episode last evening we have a whole team now that are saying that they are not going to work for this election.”

The Golden Isles by-election is set to be held on November 24th.