Connor likely to contest election result

Catriona Loughran • Published 27 May 2010 16:00 0 Comments

It looks likely Rodney Connor and his unionist election team are to launch court proceedings tomorrow (Friday) against the outcome of the election result in Fermanagh/south Tyrone on May 6/7.

Following a series of meetings with legal representatives this week, unionists feel they have "a strong enough evidence" to take the matter to court and are expected to hand in an election petition at the High Court in Belfast.

They will challenge the closely-fought election result, which saw Sinn Fein's Michelle Gildernew retain her Westminster seat by four votes of 21,304 to 21,300 in a dramatic third recount three weeks ago.

They claim a series of "misunderstandings" denied Mr Connor any hope of winning the seat such as the failure of count staff to check suspected photocopied ballots, why 36 extra ballots were recorded more than issued and the "behaviour" of Chief Electoral Officer Mr Bain during proceedings.

Speaking yesterday (Wednesday) UUP's Tom Elliott said, "I think there is strong enough evidence to call into question the result and we are still not satisfied with correspondence given to us from Mr Bain."

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This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 27 May 10

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