There are major delays at the Wakefield Primary School polling station in the constituency of North Trelawny constituency as a number of voters have turned up at the polling station without their voter’s identification cards.

There is a similar scene at Bounty Hall Primary polling station where election workers have been forced to divide the voters in two lines: those with IDs and those without.

However, the voters blame election officers for moving too slow and they have fears that they they will miss the 5 p.m. before they can complete their ballots.

Director of Elections Danville Walker is refuting the suggestion that ballot boxes were stolen from an electoral officer’s vehicle in the North Eastern St. Ann constituency. However, Sergeant Bailey of the St. Ann’s Bay police maintains that the boxes were stolen, but have since been retrieved.

Mr. Walker acknowledged that the vehicle was broken into, but all the boxes are intact.

Also, since some polling stations in that division were delayed this morning, the time will be extended if there is a need.

Earlier today, the incumbent Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) candidate for North East St. Ann, Shahine Robinson, expressed outrage at the report of the missing boxes. Mrs. Robinson is being challenged by Oswest Senior-Smith of the People’s National Party (PNP).

There is heavy rain and a power cut in South East St. Mary where the People’s National Party’s (PNP) Harry Douglas and Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) Tarn Peralto are vying for the people’s vote, but the election is proceeding smoothly.

The lack of electricity is not troubling this particular constituency as votes are being cast manually and persons are braving the weather to vote.

On Friday, August 17 - two days before Hurricane Dean struck the island - JamaicaElections.com reporter Dayne Morrison interviewed Danville Walker, Director of Elections, at his office in downtown Kingston.

Mr. Walker answers a variety of questions about our electoral process, stretching back to 1980 when he served on Election Day as a soldier in the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF).

Posted in three parts on YouTube.com:

Part I

Part II

Part III

We’ve mentioned on this blog, several times before, the various ways in which the two main parties have been attempting to curry favour from voters.

A colleague today brought back what seems to be a ’sweet’ attempt by the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) to get journalists on their side by handing out goody bags (see photo) from their Media Centre at the Hilton Hotel in New Kingston.

Amongst the items - a brownie is missing, eaten, from the photograph - is a green candle. Does the JLP want journalists to keep this alight for them on Election Day?

Also … ‘a friend’ has handed me a discreet example of tribalism. It’s a People’s National Party (PNP) t-shirt, plain orange with ‘PNP WINNER’ written on the inside tag.

Perhaps this is because the Electoral Commission of Jamaica has banned party ‘paraphernalia’ from polling stations but still allows colours?

We were featured in a Miami Herald article about how the parties have been using the Internet this election campaign.

Keep reading and commenting.

Photo by Junior Dowie, Staff Photographer: Helping hands assiss this senior citizen as she polls her vote at the Vauxhall High School today.

A power outage disrupted voting at Vauxhall Comprehensive High in the East Kingston and Port Royal constituency.

That incident prompted chaos and some voters were becoming impatient. The power was soon returned, but the voters still had to contend with the lengthy lines.

The other polling stations in the constituency were incident free. Philip Paulwell of the People’s National Party (PNP), Peter Sangster of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and Opal Slater of the National Democratic Movement (NDM) are contesting this constituency.

Photo by Hans Deryk, Reuters: Soldiers guarding a polling station in South St. Andrew today, while members of the public queue to vote.

Two men are in police custody following an incident at the Grace Temple polling station in East Kingston. Police are investigating whether the men were amongst an armed group who invaded the station just before 12 midday.

Joan Gordon-Webley, the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) candidate for South East St. Andrew, said the men entered the premises in two cars and began firing shots, forcing persons to run for safety.

One of the cars was seized.

The area has a strong bias to the JLP, within the constituency, for which the incumbent is Maxine Henry-Wilson of the People’s National Party (PNP). The polling station was closed temporarily, but police said voting is expected to resume. Six persons were murdered in the previous two days in the constituency.

 
Photo by Peta-Gaye Clachar, Staff Photographer: Director of Elections Danville Walker (left) and Ambassador Albert Ramdin, Assistant Secretary General of the Organisation of American States (OAS)
signing the agreement last month for the regional organisation to provide observers on Election Day. Looking on at right is OAS Jamaica representative Joan Neil.

Director of Elections Danville Walker says that more than 90 per cent of all polling stations opened at 8 a.m. with a heavy turnout of electors across the island.

Addressing a press conference at the Election Centre at the Towers building in New Kingston this morning, Mr. Walker said there were few delays in constituencies where the Electronic Voter Identification and Ballot Issuing System (EVIBIS) was in place.

He said that all the EVIBIS stations were opened and voting is proceeding without incident.

The Director of Elections said voting got off to a slow start in some divisions as several persons who did not have their voter identification card had to take an oath before voting.

Mr. Walker also moved to dismiss reports of the theft of ballot boxes in St. Ann.

Due to what security personnel viewed to be a breach of security caused by over-crowding, all voters were removed from a polling station at the Savanna-la-Mar Baptist Church in the constituency of Central Westmoreland.

The crowd of mainly Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) supporters quarreled with security personnel and demanded to be let into the polling station.

JLP candidate Russell Hammond said that despite the situation, he was satisfied with the level of organisation he saw. Roger Clarke is contesting the seat for the People’s National Party (PNP). He was PNP Member of Parliament for North East St. Elizabeth prior to this election.

Voters, who were asked to remain at the gate, were eventually let unto the compound but were asked to remain 100 yards from the voting area.