Independent Liberal Party (ILP) political leader Jack Warner said he encountered minor problems when he went to cast his vote at around 6 am at the Five Rivers Hindu School.
He said only four polling stations were up and running at the school while the fifth was not operating.
“I was running from pillar to post to find out where was my polling station and it seemed mine was the fifth one because that was where my name was but the fifth polling station was not set up,” he said.
Warner said a presiding officer came to assist and the matter was sorted out quickly.
He said he was confident of winning his seat and also expected election success for at least three or four of his candidates.
There was a steady stream of voters at the Five Rivers Hindu School which is in the Lopinot/Bon Air West constituency.
One polling officer said he observed mostly middle-aged and elderly people casting their ballots and some of them started lining up even before the polls opened.
“For the morning period there were very few young people coming out to vote.
“Those who did were people, basically older folks and middle-aged persons, some of whom looked like they were also on their way to work.
“At some polling stations the lines were long but everything was flowing smoothly,” he added.
The Lopinot/Bon Air West seat includes parts of the former Arouca North seat and four polling divisions from what had previously been the eastern edge of the Tunapuna constituency.
Some 26,382 people were registered to vote there in 29 polling divisions. The polling stations included Five Rivers Junior Secondary, Arouca Girls’ RC Primary School and Arima Senior Comprehensive School.
Candidates for the area are Cherrie-Ann Crichlow-Cockburn for the PNM, Lincoln Douglas for the COP and Nigel Reyes for the ILP.
Over 17,500 people voted in the last general election in 2010. Douglas got just over 9,200 votes, while his closest rival, the PNM’s Neil Parsanal, got over 8,000 votes.