By Damion Mitchell, Staff Reporter 
Blair
MAJOR PLAYERS in the island's electoral system have expressed satisfaction with the report on last October's General Election from the United States-based Carter Center.
"We feel it is a balanced report with useful suggestions," Danville Walker, Director of Elections," told The Gleaner yesterday.
Political Ombudsman Bishop Herro Blair said: "It is very frank and constructive."
Representatives of the two major political parties have merited the document.
General-Secretary of the People's National Party, Maxine Henry-Wilson, while giving credence to the recommendations said there were influencing factors for some conditions which were mentioned in the report.
"While the observations made pointed to (for example) clustering of polling stations, one of the things we have to realise is the difficulties in getting appropriate alternative locations," she said while noting that "the recommendations will be merited."
And Delroy Chuck, the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) spokes-man on Justice said that his party had no "opposition to the report."
In fact he said the risk of having a tie in the election given that there was an even number of constituencies (60), had been one of concern for the JLP. As it relates to intimidation at polling stations, he said any measure that could be adopted to reduce this, should be encouraged.
On Thursday, the Carter Center reported that while the October 16 election was free and fair, there was still too much violence and intimidation.
The overseas group, which has been sending observers to Jamaica since 1997, also made 15 recommendations for reforms to the Jamaican electoral system. Mr. Walker said there were some aspects of the reports such as the close of poll procedure that the EOJ had also observed was in need of improvement. Conse-quently, he said the electoral office had designed a checklist and created "coloured" envelopes in which the ballots would be placed having been counted.
As it relates to voting procedures, he said for upcoming elections, the EOJ will ensure that voters, having "marked their Xs" return to the desk from which they had received their ballot paper for an envelope in which the ballot paper would be placed, rather than both being given to the voter at the beginning of the voting process.
Bishop Blair, in qualifying his opinion of the Carter Center report said the matters of violence leading up to the election and intimidation and clustering at polling stations on the date of the election were also matters of concern for him.
He said he supported the recommendation for the merger of the office of the Political Ombudsman and the Peace Management Initiative. However, he said the decision to accept this recommendation would have to be made in Parliament.
