By Lynford Simpson, Staff Reporter
Danville Walker (left), Director of Elections, fielding questions from members of the media yesterday at a press briefing at the Election Centre, Hope Road, St. Andrew. With him is Professor Errol Miller, chairman of the Electoral Advisory Committee. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer
PROFESSOR ERROL Miller, chairman of the Electoral Advisory Committee (EAC), says he is satisfied with the administration of Wednes-day's general election which saw the People's National Party taking an historic fourth term in office.
The US-based Carter Center, which sent a team of international observers for the election, also heaped praise on the EAC and the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EoJ) for a job well done.
At the same time, local electoral officials said yesterday that the preliminary results of Wednesday's general election, which showed the PNP winning 35 seats to 25 for the Jamaica Labour Party, are holding.
Danville Walker, Director of Elections, who is in charge of the EoJ, yesterday dismissed rumours that Arnold Bertram, PNP Member of Parliament for St. Ann North Western, had surrendered his lead to the JLP's Verna Parchment. The two candidates polled more than 7,000 votes each and Mr. Bertram had a 26-vote majority at the end of the preliminary count.
In St. Elizabeth South Western, where Donald Buchanan of the PNP battled the JLP's Derrick Sangster in one of the marginal seats, the result had also stood up at the end of the preliminary count which had Mr. Buchanan winning by fewer than 100 votes. Both candidates polled more than 7,500 votes each. The final count of the votes is under way and Mr. Walker said this should be
completed on the weekend.
Of just over 1.3 million electors on the register of voters, 745,585 or just over 57 per cent voted on Wednesday.
In commending the Director of Elections and his team of election day workers for "executing the best elections we have had," Professor Miller said that the objectives were "substantially achieved", especially in constituencies that had displayed "sub-standard behaviour" over past elections.
Professor Miller was referring to so-called garrison constituencies that often vote en bloc in favour of one candidate. This time around, except for a few, the EAC chairman said, he was satisfied that things went well, even in the absence of proper analysis.
The Carter Center's group of observers, which was headed by former United States President Jimmy Carter, also lauded the EoJ and the EAC on the execution of the national parliamentary elections. "The Carter Center today commended the Jamaican people for a relatively violence-free election day and for its great strides in its electoral process," a statement from the centre said yesterday.
"Jamaicans' confidence in their election was bolstered by the professional and steadfast work of the security forces and the Electoral Office of Jamaica," the statement added.
It noted that the institution of the Election Centre, which allowed for the immediate resolution of disputes, and the consultative process in verifying the voters list, determining the location of polling stations and selecting poll workers, also contributed to a peaceful election day.
Despite some polling stations opening late on Wednesday, Mr. Walker expressed satisfaction at the way the polls were conducted. He too had high praises for election day workers, including some from the EoJ who were brought into swing constituencies like St. Andrew West Central to stem voter irregularity.
"I think they did a very good job and I congratulate them," Mr. Walker told journalists at a press briefing at the Election Centre. He said he was satisfied that things went well in St. Andrew West Central.
Said Walker: "I think it was a good day. I think we made some headway in handling difficult polling stations."
The Director of Elections said most of the polling stations opened on time and some 1,000 workers were placed in hotels and at the University of the West Indies to ensure they got to their polling divisions by 7 a.m.
Despite that, Mr. Walker said there was some fallout with some election day workers not showing up. As a result, some presiding officers had to double as polling clerks. Nearly 80 per cent of the 20,000 election day workers who were trained by the EoJ were experiencing an election for the first time. This, he noted, could have been partly responsible for the pedestrian-like pace at many polling stations on election day. However, he stressed that the time it took persons to vote meant the system was "actually working".
In Rock Hall, West Rural St. Andrew, where seven persons were shot dead in violence not linked to the elections, seven polling stations were closed after they were initially opened. They were eventually re-opened by 1 p.m. when new workers were transported to the area.
Mr. Walker reported some disturbances on Trenton Road at the National Works Agency's office in the Clarendon Central constituency, where a gang of eight men invaded the polling division and roughed up the electoral staff. Those and other incidents of voter intimidation were being investigated.
He said that inclement weather did not severely affect the proceedings, as only two polling stations in Westmoreland Western had to be relocated because of heavy rains.
