THE VOTERS list to be used in the upcoming general election now stands at a record 1.3 million electors, according to the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ).
This follows an intense period of voter registration between October 2001 and March 2002, during which 53,000 persons applied for registration.
The figure of 1,301,379 electors represents a net increase of 37,747 electors above the November list. It is also being reported as the cleanest in the country's history as during the period, the names of more than 10,000 dead persons were removed from the list after "careful investigations" by the EOJ.
Members of the Atlanta-based Carter Center who will be observing the election and who were in the island last week, lauded the EOJ for its efforts at creating one of the cleanest lists to be found anywhere in the world.
About 5,000 persons were not included on the new voters list published May 31, for a mix of reasons, the EOJ said in a statement yesterday.
These include non-verification of residence, non-attendance at sittings of Returning Officers and duplicate registration. The list is updated every six months.
A breakdown of the list shows an almost even distribution between males and females with 662,958 women and 638,421 men.
The four constituencies showing significant levels of registration are: St. Catherine Southern with 32,179; St. James North West with 31,701; St. Ann North East 31,617 and St. Catherine South West 30,661.
Low levels of registration were recorded in four constituencies: Trelawny Southern 15,433; St. Catherine North East 15,601; St. Andrew North East 16,427; and Kingston Western 16,576. The figures fall within the legal limits of constituency size under Jamaica's electoral laws.
