KINGSTON, Jamaica – We now have another 11 days to go until the September 30 deadline to get on the next voters’ list.

Keep the comments on the OBSERVER ONLINE questions as part of our countdown to the enumeration deadline coming.  Your comment could be featured in our countdown.

Yesterday OBSERVER ONLINE asked: Should there be fixed election dates?

Most of the commenters to our website as well as Facebook and Twitter pages believe that there should be fixed election dates, with a few even suggesting that along with fixed election dates, term limits should also be set.

Derrick Smith said: “Look, you can’t be playing soccer with shifting gold post, they have to be stationary. As a prime minister, it’s not fair for you to only try to call elections when you think you have a 90 per cent chance of winning. We want fair election. Set permanent dates.”

Stipulated agreed with Smith and added that with the fixed date, there should be no option of postponing an election.

“Definitely, no party in power should be allowed to determine when to call election; election must have a fixed date and be held within a specific time frame, without the option to postpone.”

MSheree Simpson said on Facebook: “Fixed election date and term limits. Two terms max will get rid of these dinosaurs we have in both political parties who can’t come up with one single idea to improve the lives of the people in their constituencies much less the country.”

Though most respondents believe election dates should be fixed, they doubt that this will ever happen.

Donovan A Allen said: “Every election season this rhetorical question is being asked. We all know the answer, but no one or group seem to want to do anything about it.”

According to Jas, one of the few dissenters: “Fixed date election is bad for good governance and, in particular, for ensuring that they are accountable.

“Calling an early election is no guarantee that a governing party will be re-elected but it does give the electorate an early opportunity to (throw out) a governing party which it believes is unworthy of being re-elected for a further term.

“Fixed date election means that for most part of the preceding year leading up to the election, government business comes to a standstill and the country is then subjected to a whole year of campaigning and propaganda,” Jas continued. “For example many would argue that because everyone knows when the USA Presidential election is due, for most part of the last one to two years, the president is very much a lame duck and all eyes is on who will be the next president. And, politicians on both side of Congress are well known to focus more on their re-election and often will pass no new laws that will not be seen as favourable to them being re-elected.”

Livingston Brown was a bit indecisive about the matter but had this to say:  “I don’t know.  As it is now, people can wait until things are more to their suiting, or they can call it earlier than it is constitutionally due, in order to take advantage of a favourable condition.  If the date is fixed, people could still manipulate things to coincide with a fixed date. How I see it, a fixed election date will have advantages and otherwise.

“What we could probably do, is have a window of about six months or so, in the year that it is constitutionally due, where the date must be announced within that time frame,” he suggested.

Remember to comment below our daily countdown on our website at Jamaicaobserver.com or drop us a line on Twitter @JamaicaObserver or on Facebook at facebook.com/jamaicaobserver.

Today’s question: Will you vote for MP or party? Why?