WESTERN BUREAU:

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR of Elections Orett Fisher is calling on members of the police force to act professionally on election day and enforce the law when persons breach the electoral process.

In his address at a Rotary Club of Montego Bay luncheon at the Sandals Royal Caribbean Hotel yesterday, Mr. Fisher pointed to past elections where, according to him, the police had failed to prosecute persons who attempted to register to vote more than once, even though the Electoral Office submitted the names of offenders to them.

"We sent some names to the police and unfortunately none were prosecuted. We are hoping that the police will charge these offenders so that they can be convicted and pay the fine for it to serve as a deterrent," Mr. Fisher said.

The new system of cross-matching the fingerprint of each voter with those already on the voters' list was designed to weed out the possibility of one person registering more than once in different names.

The Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) is also expected to make an announcement soon concerning the printing of serial numbers on the ballot papers to eliminate the so-called 'golden ballot', where some voters are given an already marked ballot paper with their vote cast for them. Mr. Fisher maintained the new ballot paper would be designed in such a way that the serial number would not be traceable to the voter.

"I would just like to say that we are actively looking at that and will be ensuring that there is no way of tracing it to the elector," he said.

He reiterated the EOJ's readiness for the upcoming elections and called on well-thinking Jamaicans to assist in making the process free and fair by signing up as election day workers.