Vote transfer troubles

The Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) is investigating reports that some electors, particularly in St Mary, have been unable to transfer their votes despite repeated attempts over several years.

Central to the issue is the verification process for voter transfers, which requires Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) staff to be accompanied by scrutineers representing the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People’s National Party when they visit an elector’s new address. According to the ECJ, the transfer cannot be completed unless the new residence is verified.

However, The Gleaner understands that in at least one constituency in St Mary, one set of scrutineers has repeatedly failed to make themselves available for the verification exercise, effectively preventing some transfers from being completed. The matter was reportedly brought to the attention of the ECJ at least five years ago and was raised again ahead of the 2025 general election.

As a result, some electors have had to return to the parish and constituency where they remain registered in order to vote.

Director of Elections Glasspole Brown confirmed last week that the ECJ is addressing the matter.

“There is an issue in one of the St Mary constituencies where transfer is a concern and which is being addressed by the commission,” Brown told The Gleaner.

He explained that the existing guidelines require an EOJ staff member to be accompanied by a scrutineer from both major political parties to verify the residence of an applicant seeking a transfer.

“In some cases, one is not turning up, so the transfer process cannot be completed,” he said.

Brown said the verification method is the only one currently recognised and accepted by the ECJ. He stressed, however, that the problem does not appear to be widespread.

“In other parishes and constituencies, transfers continue without impediment,” he said.

Elector’s repeated attempts

The issue came into sharper focus last week after a letter writer complained to Port Maria Mayor Fitzroy Wilson that she had been unable to vote in St Mary despite living there since 2015.

The writer, Gracia Straun, said she had moved to the St Mary Country Club in Prospect and had repeatedly contacted the EOJ to have her address transferred to the polling division where she now lives.

Straun said she first visited the Electoral Office in Oracabessa before the 2016 election to confirm her polling station, only to discover that her address had not been updated. She was subsequently required to travel to Kingston to vote.

According to Straun, she returned to the Electoral Office after that election to ensure the transfer was completed before the next poll, but the change still had not been been made. She said she again had to travel to Kingston to vote in 2020.

Since then, she said, she has made several visits to the Electoral Office in an effort to have the transfer completed before another general election.

Iona High School, where Straun said she wanted to vote, is a polling division in the St Mary Western constituency in Tower Isle. The constituency is represented by JLP Chairman Robert Montague. In September 2025, he defeated the PNP’s Omar Woodbine with 9,368 votes to the loser’s 8,427.

Straun argued that voting is a constitutional right, and said it appeared that she was being prevented from exercising that right in the constituency where she now resides.

Brown said he was aware of a telephone call made to RJR radio programme Hotline last week concerning the matter and had asked the relevant office to investigate. It was not immediately clear whether the caller and Straun were the same person.

Former Director of Elections Orette Fisher, however, said political parties should not be able to frustrate the transfer process simply by failing to provide scrutineers.

Fisher said that, to the best of his recollection, once the prescribed procedures had been followed and scrutineers had been properly notified of the date and time for verification, their failure to attend should not prevent the process from going ahead.

“It was not a major issue in previous years, as both parties abided by the stipulated guidelines,” Fisher told The Gleaner.

“Maybe conversation should be given for the guidelines to be the same as regular registration after three unsuccessful attempts to have the scrutineers turn up.”

He said EOJ staff should notify the scrutineers when verification is scheduled and, if either or both fail to attend, the verification should proceed.

“Without that provision, the political parties would be able to frustrate the entire process,” he said.

Fisher also pointed to the objection process, under which the returning officer is required to investigate when an objection is raised. He said the issue was never a major problem during his tenure. He left the EOJ in 2018.

Political concerns raised

One Gleaner source, however, believes the implications are serious.

The source argued that a political party could effectively halt transfers in a constituency if it instructed its scrutineers not to participate in the verification exercise.

“If you withhold your scrutineer, you essentially stop transfers within the constituency,” the source said.

It was also noted that an elector could therefore be denied the opportunity to vote where they actually live, and that individuals may not be able to exercise their vote at all if they are unable to travel back to the constituency where they remain registered.

The source said the problem existed before the 2025 general election and argued that the EOJ should consider an alternative verification mechanism that would not depend on the availability of political-party scrutineers.

People increasingly move because of changing family circumstances, including children migrating, older adults moving into safer communities, and marriages and other family arrangements.

“What you have, I believe, are people playing politics with people’s voting rights — a right that they inherited, but you are denying others,” the source said.

The source urged the EOJ to find a way to complete transfers without allowing the absence of scrutineers to bring the process to a standstill.

Meanwhile, continuous enumeration of new voters is ongoing.

erica.virtue@gleanerjm.com