THE ELECTORAL Office of Jamaica (EOJ) is considering a reduction in the number of polling stations used in elections islandwide.
The move would be a result of the success of the Electronic Verification and Ballot Authentication System exercise carried out, for the first time in the world, during the June 19 Local Government elections. It was used as a pilot in the St. Andrew Eastern constituency.
"The machines worked so well (that) we are now considering the merging of some polling stations and putting them at locations that are convenient to the voter," Neville Graham, EOJ communications manager, said while speaking at the weekly Rotary Club of St. Andrew luncheon, last week at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston. Mr. Graham was filling in as guest speaker for Director of Elections, Danville Walker, who was off the island.
"Therefore, we will save on training for personnel because it costs a significant amount of money to put in a presiding officer and a poll clerk for one polling station," Mr. Graham told the gathering of Rotarians and guests.
Polling stations in Jamaica are currently set up to accommodate 250 voters each. According to Mr. Graham, with 10 hours for voters to cast their ballots (between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.), electoral workers should be able to process an average of 25 voters per hour. This translates to two minutes and 15 seconds per person in the event of a 100 per cent voter turnout.
The speed with which the 40 electronic machines (purchased through the Electoral Advisory Commission for a fee of $45 million) processed the vote, highlighted the possibility of increasing the number of persons processed at each polling station. This action, according to Mr. Graham, would also allow the EOJ to save on paper, paraphernalia and even ballots.
The electronic system works through the placement of the voter's finger on a fingerprint scanner which records and compares the information to a database containing relevant data on the person. If the information in the database matches the fingerprint, the vote is approved. However, if the voter is rejected, the presiding officer would revert to using the back-up system whereby the person is asked certain questions pertinent to his/her identity.
