The Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) launches its $5 million public education campaign today with the aim of sensitising voters and candidates running for public office to the need for obeying the electoral laws, particularly those which were amended in November.

In an interview with The Gleaner yesterday, public information officer at the EOJ Neville Graham said it will not be business as usual on voting day as candidates and voters alike will know the laws governing polling day activities and should have no excuse if they violate these laws.

"The conditions of voiding and halting elections will be made known in this no-nonsense education programme. It will be advertised for all to see and will definitely not be business as usual," Mr. Graham emphasised.

"Those politicians who make it a habit of roaming about on election day will have a rude awakening if they choose to disobey the law this time around. Persons who commit the offence of stuffing ballot boxes and closing polling stations by 10 a.m. will realise sooner than later that not only will they be under the microscope but they will be prosecuted," he added.

Information will be disseminated by radio, television and newspapers instructing persons on the use of the black book on voting day, the penalties which will be brought to bear for infraction of the voting laws and the serious punishment for those who aid and abet electoral fraud.

Qualified pool

Meanwhile, the office is still recruiting persons to fill the posts of presiding officers and poll clerks in polling divisions islandwide. While the spokesman said the EOJ is in a better position of staffing the offices than it was two weeks ago, it wants to have a large pool of qualified persons to draw on, in the event that there is any withdrawal or dismissal.

The constituencies, he said, have already started an intensive training programme with eight more sessions to go before election day.

In addition to ensuring that the polling stations are equipped with electricity and running water, Mr. Graham said the EOJ is making every effort to see that those clusters or stations in troubled areas are properly secured.