By Horace Helps

KINGSTON, Sept 6 (Reuters) - The Jamaica Labour Party picked up another seat in parliament on Thursday in the final result of a recount of Monday's election that ended the 18-year reign of the ruling People's National Party.

Election workers across Jamaica have been recounting ballots for three days since the preliminary election-night tally gave the JLP a narrow 31-29 win.

The JLP total rose to 33 in the final tally issued by election officials late on Thursday, versus 27 seats for the PNP.

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, Jamaica's first female leader, has refused to concede defeat. But she issued a statement on Tuesday saying she accepted the preliminary results while reserving the right to launch legal challenges.

Her statement has been interpreted by local media as a back-handed concession to JLP leader Bruce Golding, who will now form the next government.

Golding's swearing in ceremony is set for next Monday, officials said.

The PNP has filed court papers to have the election of two JLP candidates declared null and void, on the grounds they were dual U.S.-Jamaican citizens and ineligible to hold public office.

Even if the challenge is successful, however, it would not change the shift in power in the Caribbean nation after nearly two decades of rule by the PNP.

Signaling discontent with the vote, in a nation long divided along party lines, police said elections director Danville Walker had been assigned a special security detail after receiving a series of death threats.

Walker, who has been in the job for over a decade, is being accused of bias by those issuing the threats, police said in a statement.

They did not elaborate, however, and there have been no reports of serious political violence since Monday's vote.

Golding, who replaced long-time JLP leader Edward Seaga in 2002 and took the JLP to its first win since 1983, has not spoken publicly since election night.

He has called for a more independent central bank, reduction of Jamaica's huge national debt and budget deficit and creation of an offshore financial industry as well as universal access to health care.

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