Dear Editor,

At last week Tuesday’s sitting of the House, Member of Parliament for South West St Catherine, Everard Warmington tabled a number of resolutions related to electoral matters.

One of his resolutions called for an amendment to be made to the existing laws to allow an elector to use any implement (other than a pencil) and any mark (other than the X) to denote his/her vote. I rose in Parliament objecting to the proposal and urged caution in its consideration.

The most fundamental reason this proposal should not be accepted is that the basic premise of our electoral system is that an elector’s vote is secret and should never be known to anyone other than the elector.

Allowing any implement and any mark to stand as a vote, allows an unscrupulous politician to provide, for example, a black pen and indicate to his/her supporters to use a specific mark which can then be determined during the count as political parties have agents who monitor the process.

The politician can therefore determine whether specific persons voted for him based on the implement used and the specific mark.

This would remove the secrecy and anonymity associated with an elector’s vote and threaten the most fundamental hallmark of our democracy.

While I understand the malady the resolution is seeking to correct, this proposal is not the answer.

Political parties and the EOJ must continue to invest in public education to inform our electors about how to vote and what is the correct implement and mark to make.

Julian J Robinson

Member of Parliament

South East St Andrew