Independent candidate for today’s Devonshire South Central by-election David Sullivan yesterday alleged that fellow candidate Craig Cannonier’s canvassing team has been telling voters that a Constitutional crisis could occur if they do not send him to the House of Assembly.The claim was vigorously denied by the One Bermuda Alliance which says that their rival is “manufacturing an issue that is simply not there” in order to get media attention.“I’ve spent a fair amount of time correcting misinformation that’s out there from the OBA side that there could be a constitutional crisis should Mr Cannonier not be successful. That, of course, is utter nonsense,” Mr Sullivan said.“Because if it is true that a leader of a political party must have a seat in the House of Assembly, then Mr Cannonier would already be in the House of Assembly as he was the leader of the BDA.”Mr Sullivan continued: “There is a quantum leap from being leader of a political party to being leader of the Opposition.”“Once I’ve taken the time to explain that difference, then people see more clearly the choices they have before them. It’s very typical of practices under the UBP in the past. And voters should not be misled by any candidate. That’s just not good politics for anybody. Not for the voters and not for the country.”He said about two dozen constituents had effectively said that they had been told by members of the One Bermuda Alliance canvassing team that Mr Cannonier had to be sent to the House of Assembly because he’s the leader of the One Bermuda Alliance.“There are nine people in the House of Assembly under the banner of the OBA. At least one of them has been a previous Leader of the Opposition. So any of the nine can easily be Leader of the Opposition. On Wednesday, Mr Cannonier will still be Leader of the OBA. He may not be Leader of the Opposition.”“Mr Craig Cannonier has been canvassing Devonshire South Central from the start of the by-election campaign, mostly with John Barritt, sometimes with E.T. (Bob) Richards. Mr Cannonier did not want to have teams of canvassers working the constituency. That was a specific decision taken at the start of the campaign because he thought it was important that the people of Devonshire South Central hear directly from him,” said an OBA spokesperson.“And what has his message been? It is that he is seeking a mandate for change, asking each voter about their concerns and talking about the issues. That’s what he’s been doing door-to-door, day after day. He and his canvassing colleagues have never said anything about a constitutional crisis because it’s nonsense, simply not true. The issue Mr Sullivan is talking about has nothing to do with the day-to-day concerns of the people of Devonshire South Central. It’s more about getting media attention on the last day of an election campaign.”Mr Sullivan was asked to assist this newspaper by putting us into contact with constituents who had been misled and could corroborate his claim. He declined to do so, despite a guarantee of confidentiality for the sources, saying it would not be appropriate to involve the constituents. Instead, he sent David Tavares, a member of his own canvassing team to verify the claim.“I can verify that David (Sullivan) has spent an inordinate amount of time explaining the leadership role, that under the Constitution it’s not a requirement that the leader of the party has to be in the House,” said Mr Tavares. While Mr Sullivan said that some two dozen constituents had made the claim, Mr Tavares said he had personally heard the concerns expressed by two constituents. But he said he did not hear any constituents claim that Mr Cannonier’s canvassing team had passed on such information.“I would assume the only other way they would get that information” is from Mr Cannonier’s canvassers, he said.Devonshire South Central constituents have a choice of three candidates. Besides Mr Sullivan and Mr Cannonier, the ruling party’s Anthony Richardson is also asking the voters to send him to parliament as their representative.