By Lynford Simpson,
Staff Reporter
Miller
THE ELECTORAL Office of Jamaica (EOJ) is continuing the processing of correcting errors on the voters list and yesterday it started hearings into multiple registrations. A preliminary list is published every six months under existing electoral laws.
Danville Walker, the Director of Elections, warned that individuals who were registered more than once during the enumeration exercise leading up to the December 1997 general election, could have their names struck from the voters' list.
The warning from the EOJ boss comes as public hearings into the multiple registrations by roughly 3,000 persons kicked off yesterday. The number is down from an initial estimate of nearly 5,000 after the list was rechecked, he said.
Mr. Walker explained that the sittings, a norm after any major enumeration exercise, were aimed at giving those found in breach of the Representation of the People Act a chance to explain their actions.
The sittings, which will be held for two weeks in all 60 constituencies, are being conducted by Returning Officers who are vested with the powers of Resident Magistrates in such matters.
In the first instance, the aim was not to prosecute, Mr. Walker explained. He disclosed that early feedback from the sittings indicate that many persons having relocated from one constituency to another, thought it was necessary to re-register in the new constituency.
"The agreed on approach at the EAC (Electoral Advisory Committee) is that we are not seeking in the first instance to prosecute anyone. All we are seeking to do is to settle the issue of duplication," Mr. Walker stressed. "So once you come and you show your bona fide residence and prove your identity we would simply remove the duplicate ones and you will be properly registered one time," the EOJ boss explained.
But, having said that, he warned that prosecution was a real option. "I am not ruling it (prosecution) out now but basically my goal is to clean up the voters list. I'm therefore seeking to remove the duplicate registrations. If people don't turn up we are going to remove them anyway."
The Director of Elections explained that those who registered in two constituencies will be required to attend hearings in both. "If you don't turn up at both of them then you stand the chance of being removed from the voters list," he pointed out. Persons so affected will have their names published in the media and will be given 10 days in which to appeal to their Returning Officer.
With just the first day of the sittings completed, Mr. Walker said it was too early to say how many persons have attended. He expects a clearer picture to emerge by the end of the week.
Wrong addresses apart, duplications were also picked up by the EOJ with the use of electronic fingerprint ana-lysis. Those expected to attend the sittings were notified by registered mail or had the letters dropped off at the addresses they gave at the time they were enumerated.
EAC chairman, Professor Errol Miller, told reporters at a press briefing last month that the purpose of the sittings was to give the persons a chance to clear their names. "Before we prosecute the person...we want to hear from the person exactly what happened," he said. But he also warned that their failure to attend the sittings could result in criminal charges being brought against them.
The multiple registrations, a breach of the Representation of the People Act, were picked up during the cross-matching exercise to clean the list.
