ONLY 982 or 23 per cent of the 4,181 members of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) on the voters’ list cast ballots on Monday ahead of tomorrow’s general election.

There was, however, a better showing by members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, as 42 per cent or 4,849 of the 11,512 on the voters’ list exercised their franchise when members of the security forces and election day workers voted.

At the same time, 20,445 (66 per cent) of the 31,084 election day workers went out to vote Monday.

The overall turnout for Monday’s voting was 56 per cent.

“Special service voters’ ballots are placed in specially marked individual envelopes which are then sorted the night after the election and will be counted on election day along with the ballots cast by civilian non-election day workers. While the Electoral Office has determined how many ballots have been received, there is no indication of how the electors have voted as the envelopes remain sealed and vaulted until the counting on election day,” Director of Elections Glasspole Brown said yesterday.

According to Brown, reports from across the island indicated a fairly quiet day during Monday’s polling.

“All polling stations opened as scheduled at 8:00 am, and we did not receive any reports of any major incidences. Overall, the day went quite smoothly,” he said.