Monique Hepburn, News Editor
WESTERN BUREAU:
A DEPORTEE who was discovered to have registered with the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) in three different names in three parishes has again brought to the fore how far criminal elements will go to migrate.
Reports are that as part of the ongoing reverification exercise, the man registered in St. James, Clarendon and St. Elizabeth. However, when the data were cross-matched, his attempt to breach the system was uncovered. When called in by the EOJ to account for his actions, the man explained that he needed to get back to the United States and was merely trying to get a new identity.
Danville Walker, executive director of the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ), told The Gleaner that matters of fraud and identity theft were fairly rampant and that as long as persons whose identities have been stolen are not on the voters' list, it was easy to do so.
NEW BIRTH CERTIFICATE
"When some people need to create a whole new identity, they start with a new birth certificate," he said. "So first they steal the birth certificate because it is not easy to get one.
"They seek to come on the voters' list, and then with a birth certificate and an ID card, bingo! They have a new identity and they work up the line to getting a visa to leave the country."
He explained that the practice was difficult if the victims of identity theft are already on the voters' list. Mr. Walker further stated that the EOJ's ambit encompasses matters related to the voters' list and excludes those not directly related to it.
