CLARENDON, Jamaica — The Opposition People’s National Party’s Patricia Duncan Sutherland, who is facing off with Jamaica Labour Party incumbent Pearnel Charles Jr for the Clarendon South Eastern seat, is this morning confident that she will be sitting in Gordon House after today’s elections.

Duncan Sutherland, who lost the seat by just under 1,000 votes in the 2016 General Election, was among scores of Clarendonians waiting to vote outside the Longville Park Baptist Church in the constituency this morning.

She made the occasion a family affair. “I’m here with my five family members, my husband and my three children,” she told OBSERVER ONLINE.

Today is decision day, it’s been a long run up but we are feeling good (that) we are in a good position, we are looking good. We are not missing this time. This is it, ” said Duncan Sutherland.

The scene at the Longville Park Baptist Church, located along the main thoroughfare, saw voters at times jockeying for space with vehicular traffic, tents housing party workers and election day personnel occupying the fringes of the roadway. Several members of the police force worked feverishly to keep traffic flowing and voters safe.

One police officer told OBSERVER ONLINE that they were hard pressed to ensure that the voting exercise did not interfere with the flow of traffic, which at points slowed to a crawl because of people spilling over onto the roadway.

He however noted that they would continue to work to improve the situation and ensure that people maintain the COVID-19 distancing protocols.

As for the voting exercise itself, “in the morning it was a little bit crowded cause you know everybody wanted first preference but away from that everything going smoothly,” one runner for the People’s National Party Clinton  Edward’s told OBSERVER ONLINE.

Alicia Dunkley Willis