Voting got off to a smooth start at the B. B. Coke High School in Junction, South East St. Elizabeth with persons arriving at the polling stations as early as 6 a.m.A contingent of Jamaica Defense Force (JDF) soldiers are manning the crowd and have been able to keep voters in an orderly fashion.

The South East St. Elizabeth constituency have been rocked by recent incidents of gun violence. Most recently the driver of National Democratic Movement (NDM) candidate, Conrad Powell, was shot an injured allegedly by People’s National Party (PNP) supporters, on Saturday night.

Last Friday morning gunmen broke into the home of Jeremy Palmer, the former local Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Member of Parliament MP for the area, and fired shots at him before stealing a laptop and a briefcase containing campaign documents and cellular phones.

In a separate incident that morning, Mr. Powell’s driver was held up at gunpoint and robbed of his jewelery, cash and a motorcycle while posting campaign flyers in Munroe.

Second Lieutenant Taofeek Olakunle, the JDF ground commander at the B.B. Coke High School, said he was expecting an incident-free day.

“We have been in the parish days ahead of the election and have taken up our positions early”, said Lt. Olakunle.

The JDF and members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) have been carrying out overt and covert operations in the parish with special emphasis being placed on South East St. Elizabeth due to the upsurge in violence.

Meanwhile former local PNP Member of Parliament, Derek Rochester said that all the elections he had participated in over the years had seen acts of violence, making reference to the Top Hill incident in the 1980 election when two children were killed in clashes between rival supporters.

“It is regrettable that these incidents have happened but there are pockets of violence in the constituency. However we are looking forward to the day when we can put these behind us,” said Rochester, adding that persons from outside have been infiltrating the constituency which he said was contributing to the recent incidents.

23,000 persons are expected to vote in the constituency, which could see the JLP Franklyn Witter or the PNP’s Norman Horne going to Gordon House.

There have been reports of a missing ballot box in the district of Exchange in the St. Ann North Eastern constituency. According to police, a vehicle was broken into and the empty box removed. The details are still not not clear.

Meanwhile, voters at the Ocho Rios Primary School polling station had to wait an extra hour before the first ballot was cast. It is not clear why the opening of the station was delayed or what will be done to remedy the situation.

The polling station falls in the North East St. Ann constituency where the incumbent, Shahine Robinson of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is trying to keep the seat from the People’s National Party’s (PNP) Oswest Senior-Smith.

All the other polling stations were opened on time with huge clusters of voters waiting.

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Deanery Road update
Police have identified two of the three persons who were shot dead at 15 1/2 Deanery Road in St. Andrew yesterday afternoon.

They are 48-year-old Ferris Adam of a Kingston 20 address and Mark Reid from St. Ann.

The third man remains unidentified.

Crime Officer for Eastern Kingston Deputy Superintendent Michael Ellis says the killings may have been a reprisal for the killing of three persons in Vineyard Town on Friday night.

There is a relative calm in the South East St. Andrew constituency, which has proved a hotbed of political violence in the run up to today’s general election.

News media have reported tension a polling station in the Mountain View area of the constituency from the start of voting this morning.

It is alleged that the unease stemmed from voters who refused to join the line and wait their turn to cast their ballot. Fortunately, soldiers from the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) stepped in quickly and diffused the tension.

Observers from Citizens’ Action for Free and Fair Elections (CAFFE) are also in the constituency.

On the other hand, there was no nervousness at the polling stations in Nannyville and the Saint Peter and Paul Church, as voters exercised their franchise in an orderly fashion.

Some glitches have also been reported as some voters turned up to polling stations without their voters’ identification card. This resulted in a minor delay.

On a lighter note, voters were out in their colours and some were seen sporting umbrellas - either to hide from the sun’s pelting rays or as a precautionary measure against expected showers from the feisty hurricane Felix.

Joan Gordon-Webley of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and Maxine Henry-Wilson of the People’s National Party (PNP) are the candidates for this constituency.

Photo by Andrew Smith, Photography Editor: Voters wait patiently in long lines at the Jamaica College polling station in the East St. Andrew constituency today.

After weeks of intense campaigning, voters are anxious to cast their ballots. As can be expected, the lines are long and have voters in St Andrew’s West Central, West and Central uneasy.

Some voters are complaining that the process is taking too long. One man claimed he stood at the front of the line for close to an hour, blaming the inefficiency of the election workers.

He then went on to claim that is was an attempt to sabotage the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) votes.

Of concern to some voters in Olympic Way in the West Central St. Andrew constituency is a sound system that was set up to play theme songs for the JLP campaign. The announcer could be heard urging voters to vote JLP.

The Representation of the People’s Act prohibits such action on Election Day.

Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) candidate for West St. Thomas, James Robertson, has complained to police regarding allegations that several People’s National Party (PNP) supporters were seen posing as Election Day workers.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that the PNP supporters, backing their candidate Rose-Marie Shaw, were seen wearing Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) bibs. The police are investigating.

Furthermore, up to 9 a.m., at least two polling stations in the Cedar Valley Division were yet to open.

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Manchester killing
Mandeville police have confirmed that a man was shot dead and another injured in Comfort District, Central Manchester this morning.

The police say 23-year-old Trevor ‘Matthew’ Morgan otherwise was killed at about 2:30 a.m. His cousin was seriously injured and admitted to hospital

Mr. Morgan, a labourer from Marverly in Kingston had been living at his cousin’s house for some time.

Police say the men were shot by a man who kicked opened their door and fired shots.

Police have not yet determined a motive for the killing.

Observers ready
Citizens’ Action for Free and Fair Elections, CAFFE, says it is fully prepared to monitor today’s general election.

CAFFE Director Fabian Brown says more than 15-hundred volunteers have been deployed across the 60 constituencies.

Thirty-eight Organisation of American States’ (OAS) observers, from 13 different countries, are also in the island.

They will monitor the voting in at least 42 per cent of Jamaica’s 60 constituencies.

Hurricane Felix
A tropical storm watch remains in effect for Jamaica as the center of Felix is now located about 275 miles south-southeast of the island.

The category five-strength storm is said to have intensified yesterday chopping winds at 165 miles per hour with a current pressure of 929 milibars.

Periods of showers and gusty winds are likely to affect sections of the island this morning and into the afternoon.
Currently it is estimated that Hurricane Felix will pass 296 miles south of Grand Cayman early tomorrow morning while racing to Honduras.

Voting began very early in Manchester this morning. Voters at the Christiana Courthouse in the North East constituency were in line to dip their finger in ink before 7 a.m.

With security forces out in numbers, voting is going smoothly, almost in an anti-climactic fashion, given the tense atmosphere prior to polling. Roads have been quiet and there have been no reports of violence.

According to voters, this is the heaviest police presence in at an election. “Police deh everyweh,” said a passer-by.

Independent observers, Citizens’ Action for Free and Fair Elections (CAFFE), are also at polling stations, paying close attention to the goings on.

There are only two reports of a voter being turned away in Manchester and both at the deCarteret College polling station.

One polling station, at Hatfield, where the heaviest turnout has been reported, opened a little late. Apart from that voting has been quiet, and in one station, Craighead, voting has been very light.

In the central Manchester constituency, People’s National Party (PNP) Candidate, Peter Bunting will vote in Kingston, where he lives, while Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) candidate Sally Porteous is scheduled to place her ‘X’ at the Kendal All-Age School at 10 a.m.

An interesting trend seems to be developing in Manchester, where only older people have been witnessed exercising their right to vote.

At least two polling stations in East Central St. James opened late for this morning’s general elections.

The Portobello polling station did not open until 7:30 am, half-an-hour late. Things were further complicated when it was realised there were no pencils for voters to mark their ballot. An election-day worker also had to be replaced at the last minute.

The Sudsberry polling station opened 20 minutes late and the workers had problems getting in as a key to enter the premises was broken.

This constituency is being contested by Donald Colomathi of the People’s National Party (PNP) and Edmund Bartlett of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and independent candidate Royston Richards.

Voters in the constituency of North East St. Ann will decide whether the People’s National Party’s (PNP) Oswest Senior-Smith or the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) Shahine Robinson will represent them over the next five years.

The voters list for this constituency has been increased by 2,000 persons since the 2002 general election, with 34,307 persons registered to vote at 128 polling stations.

“Everything is ready, the polling stations are equipped and we dont expect any hitches,” said returning officer Rupert Brown.