#JaVotes2020 | Lame and blind climb hill and stairs to cast vote in St Andrew West Rural

Nadine Wilson/Gleaner Writer

 

Standstill traffic heading into the Stony Hill Technical High School in St Andrew West Rural forced several persons to abandon their vehicles along the roadway and walk to the polling station to cast their vote this morning.

 

Among them was 75-year-old Francita Robinson, who used her walker to help her navigate the slight hill to get to her polling division. After reaching the school, she patiently hobbled up two flights of stairs to cast her vote and back down unassisted.

 

“I live in Stony Hill, and every election, I vote,” she said.

 

Several senior citizens were hoisted on to the backs of runners who manoeuvred the slightly hilly and damp terrain to take them to their intended destinations.

 

Adrian Allen, 78, who is blind, was flanked by two runners as she, too, made her way to the school to cast her vote. This was the first time the senior citizen was voting blind, but she was in a good mood as she showed her support for the incumbent Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn.

 

“My girls come to my house for me,” she said in reference to the green-clad runners, who assisted her.

 

There was heavy police and military presence at the entrance to the school. They watched as security personnel sanitised the hands of those entering the polling station and conducted temperature checks. The presence of the officers was one of several things that caught the attention of the head of the European Union delegation in Jamaica, Malgorzata Wasilewska.

 

“I am a bit surprised to see such strong security presence,” she said.

 

 

 

St Andrew West Rural

 

2020

 

PNP - Krystal Tomlinson

 

JLP - Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn