Above: Basseterre, St Kitts

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Leroy Benjamin has resigned his position as Supervisor of Elections in St Kitts and Nevis.

Benjamin’s resignation was accepted by Governor General Sir Cuthbert Montraville Sebastian.

“The government of St Kitts and Nevis is committed to upholding the the highest possible standard of democratic governance and to affirming, at all times, the importance of an independent judiciary to the proper functioning of our democracy,” Prime Minister Dr Denzil Douglas said in a statement.

Douglas said “the requisite work has already begun to fill the now-vacant post of Supervisor of Elections in order that the responsibilities associated with this post, so very essential to the national interest, may be resumed without undue delay.”

The resignation came after a controversy involving the local elections in 2011 in Nevis that led to an election case before the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal.

The case had been filed by Mark Brantley, who lost the 2011 election to the Nevis Island Assembly seat in for District St John’s 2 to Hensley Daniel by a margin of 14 votes.

Last week, the court rendered Daniel’s win invalid, leading to an upcoming by-election for the seat. The court found errors on several fronts, including by the supervisor of elections.