Dear Editor,

It isn’t a wise idea to look solely at the margin of victory in a low voter turnout election. To know where you at in your seat you need to look at the number of votes you got compared to the last election.

The voter turnout in 2016 was 48 per cent compared to 37 per cent this election. Despite COVID-19, we have 12 candidates who managed to increase the votes in their seats:

1) Pearnel Charles Jr – Clarendon South Eastern

2) Alando Terrelonge – St Catherine East Central

3) Zavia Mayne – St Ann South Western

4) Homer Davis – St James Southern

5) Kerensia Morrison – St Catherine North Eastern

6) Ann-Marie Vaz – Portland Eastern

7) Delroy Slowley – St Elizabeth North Eastern

8) Donavan Williams- Kingston Central

9) Morland Wilson – Westmoreland Western

10) Danny Lawrence – Westmoreland Eastern

11) Delroy Granston – St Ann South Eastern

12) Marissa Dalrymple-Philibert – Trelawny Southern

The fact that the names above received more votes in 2020 than in 2016 clearly tells me that they were good Members of Parliament and caretakers.

We have to also ‘big up’ all standard-bearers who barely missed getting over their seat count in 2016. Special mention as well to Everald Warmington and Pearnel Charles Jr on being the only candidates to get over 10,000 votes. In fact, Warmington is the only candidate to get over 11,000 votes. Special congratulations to the following record breakers:

1) Pearnel Charles Jr who broke Rudyard’s 2016 seat record of 9,997 votes by getting 10,249 votes.

2) Zavia Mayne who broke Neville Gallimore’s 1980 seat record of 7,237 votes by getting 7,694 votes.

3) Alando Terrelonge broke his 2016 record of 6,215 votes by getting 6,374 votes.

4) Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert for being the first candidate in that seat to get over 7,000 votes.

5) Homer Davis for nearly breaking Derrick Kellier’s 1989 record of 7,980 votes by receiving 7,765 votes.

Teddylee Gray

Ocho Rios, St Ann

teddylee.gray@gmail.com