ST ANN, Jamaica — Election day organisers from both major political parties were optimistic of prevailing in St Ann North Western even as a supporter of the incumbent talked up his chances.

Carlton Day, one of the polling station ground supervisors for Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) candidate Krystal Lee, said he was encouraged by the support seen in the Bamboo polling division.

“This is the first time in over 40 years we are feeling this type of vibe here,” he said from his polling station base at Bamboo Primary School.

“We have a new candidate — Ms Lee — who is very popular. And that has created a whole heap of momentum, so we are quite confident we are going to win this election,” he added.

Glenroy Coke, the organising chairman for People’s National Party (PNP) incumbent Dr Dayton Campbell in the Bamboo division, said they have been working around the clock to get their supporters into polling stations.

“Things have been going on pretty well. Sometimes it has been slow, but sometimes things have picked up. But the people are coming out and we have the cars going out, so people are coming out. This is a strong area for the party, so we expect a majority of the votes here,” Coke explained.

Near the 5:00 pm close of polls, Anthony Charley, an integral campaign figure for independent candidate Peter Shand, was cautiously confident, while expressing concern about allegations of vote buying.

“At this moment we are confident, but we understand that some vote buying took place,” said Charley, who was at Shand’s constituency office in Priory at the time of the telephone interview.

Sanjay Myers