THE recent reverification of voters by the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) has revealed three constituencies that are in breach of the constitutional limits for electors, and two more on the verge of doing so.

According to a summary of the newly certified voters’ list produced by the EOJ on June 16, following the conclusion of the reverification exercise, Central Kingston and North Eastern St Andrew have less voters than the minimum currently allowed by the constitution.

This minimum, based on the new list, is 13,996, but Central Kingston only has 13,863 voters, while NE St Andrew has 13,771.

In addition, Eastern Kingston and Port Royal, is very close to the lower limit with 14,728, followed by South Trelawny with 14,939.

One constituency is also in breach of the upper limit of 31,495 – North Eastern St Ann which has 32,690.

The MPs representing these constituencies are:

. Victor Cummings (PNP), Central Kingston;

. Delroy Chuck (JLP), NE St Andrew;

. Shahine Robinson (JLP), NE St Ann.

. Phillip Paulwell (PNP), Eastern Kingston-Port Royal; and

. Devon McDaniel (JLP), South Trelawny.

The South Western St Catherine constituency, represented by Everald Warmington of the JLP, has the second largest number of voters with 29,107, followed by the 29,064 in Central Westmoreland, a seat represented by Dr Karl Blythe, PNP.

The issue was brought to the attention of the House of Representatives by the Leader of the Opposition, Bruce Golding, on June 21.

Golding reminded the House that the bill which will constitutionally entrench the EAC as a commission of Parliament to complete these changes, without interference from Parliament, has already been tabled but needs a constitutional delay of three months before it can be debated.

He urged the House to commence that debate as soon as possible because of the importance of the bill, as it gives the commission authority to recommend the number of constituencies and their boundaries.

“Therefore it is going to be important for us to try and proceed with that legislation in order that these anomalies can be corrected,” Golding said.

The Electoral Office of Jamaica has not yet published the final voters list, but it has indicated that, as a result of the reverification, just about 200,000 persons might be dropped.

The November 2005 list had 1,413,794 electors.

Half of the 60 constituencies are below the national voter average, which is 20,997.

Of the 15 constituencies in the corporate area – covering Kingston and St Andrew, 12 are below the average.

The three above the average are:

. West Rural St Andrew (Andrew Gallimore, JLP), which includes rural communities like Stony Hill, Brandon Hill and Lawrence Tavern;

. East Rural St Andrew (Joseph Hibbert, JLP), which includes Gordon Town, Mavis Bank and Dallas; and

. Western St Andrew (OT Williams, PNP), which has Duhaney Park, Waterhouse and Seaview Gardens.

The migration out of the centre of the city is evident in the list, as all three Kingston constituencies show very low voter population.

However, Western Kingston, which had been considered the most threatened by the lower limit, now has the largest number of electors in Kingston, 15,884, compared to Eastern Kingston and Port Royal’s 14,728 and Central Kingston’s 13,863.

Nine of the 12 constituencies in St Andrew are below the national average, mainly inner-city areas, including prime minister Portia Simpson Miller’s South Western St Andrew seat, 16,399; and finance minister Dr Omar Davies’ South St Andrew, 15,611, suggesting that without more housing developments in the near future, they could fall below the national average soon.

Up to last year, South St Catherine (Fitz Jackson, PNP), which includes Greater Portmore, Braeton and parts of Spanish Town, was over the limit. However, following boundary adjustments initiated by the Electoral Advisory Committee (EAC) – to increase the number of parliamentary seats from 60 to 63 -which has affected a number of the constituencies in the parish, the voting population has now fallen to 28,648, the second largest in St Catherine, having been overtaken by South Western St Catherine.

Other St Catherine constituencies are well within the limits with:

Central (Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange, JLP) having 22,862;

South Eastern (Dr Paul Robertson, PNP), which includes middle income housing developments like Edgewater, Independence City and Bridgeport, at 24,566;

. East Central (KD Knight, PNP) with 23,254;

. West Central (Dr Kenneth Baugh, JLP), 22,851;

. North Western (Robert Pickersgill, PNP), 24,009;

. South Central (Sharon Hay-Webster, PNP), 25,799; and

. North Eastern (Abe Dabdoub, independent but formerly JLP) with the lowest figure of 17,457.

St James constituencies, like those in St Ann and Westmoreland continue to boast very high numbers associated with the labour drift towards tourism developments in those parishes.

The only constituency in St James below the national average is Southern (Derrick Kellier) – the only seat in the parish retained by the PNP in 2002 – which has 17,228, well above the lower limit.

In St Ann, both South Eastern and South Western, which depend more on bauxite mining, are just over 16,000.

The only constituency in Westmoreland below the national average is Eastern (Luther Buchanan, PNP).

balfordh@jamaicaobserver.com