Electors waiting to cast their votes, formed a long line which stretched down the road. - Michael Sloley /Freelance Photographer ELECTION DAY broke on a bloody note in the Corporate Area yesterday with at least nine murders and gun battles in various areas, but it took power cuts and rain to slow down voting in some places.
The flow of blood started at 6 o'clock when election worker Marlon Campbell, 24, was gunned down outside a polling station at the Rock Hall Primary School, northeast of Kingston. Minutes later deacon Jonathan Levy and five members of his family were shot and killed when gunmen broke into their homes, also in Rock Hall.
However, police say the seven killings are a result of a personal dispute dating back to February.
Throughout the day there were reports of gunshots in the Mountain View and Allman Town areas; one man was killed during heavy gunfire in Hannah Town, West Kingston; a district constable was shot and injured in another exchange of gunfire; while a group of police was pinned down by bullets at the Bull Bay All-Age School in St. Andrew.
Closer to downtown Kingston, people casting their ballots at St. Anne's High School -- near the Kingston Public Hospital -- had to make their Xs at Denham Town Police Station because of gunshots in the neighbourhood.
Power cuts and pouring rain were the only other main threats to the electoral process as most polling stations opened within minutes of the scheduled 7:00 a.m. start time and were largely incident-free. The loss of electricity caused some dark moments at polling stations at Jose Marti High, Eltham Park Primary and St. John's Primary schools in Spanish Town, St. Catherine. People voting in polling divisions eight and nine at Eltham Park Primary had to wait until 9:00 a.m. to cast their ballots. At St. John's Primary School voting was delayed by 50 minutes.
The general overcast conditions and power cut at a few other polling divisions in St. Andrew forced electors to assign their Xs in rooms poorly lit by battery-operated lamps.
At Maverley All-Age School, located in North West St. Andrew, an unruly crowd threatened to get out of hand because there was no one to assign electors to lines according to their polling divisions. It took the security forces about an hour to set up proper lines.
Polling stations in eastern Kingston and St. Andrew reported a smooth process and heavy turnouts in some areas, despite the rain.
