THE Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) is expressing confidence that it should be able to declare the winner of the People’s National Party (PNP) presidential election before 5:00 pm on Saturday, after the party’s delegates vote.

Mark Golding and Lisa Hanna have been nominated to contest the election to be the sixth president of the PNP and, as it has done in the past, the party has contracted the EOJ to conduct the election.

Just over 3,300 PNP delegates will vote to determine the person to replace Dr Peter Phillips as the president of the party in a contest which will see new voting protocols because of COVID-19.

The major change will see PNP delegates not casting their votes at a central location in the Corporate Area as the party has decided that voting will take place in proximity to where the delegates are registered.

Director of Elections Glasspole Brown yesterday told the Jamaica Observer that while the delegates will vote in the parish where they live, there might be one voting location for two parishes — including Kingston and St Andrew where multiple polling stations will be established on the compound of The Mico University College on Marescaux Road.

According to Brown, voting will close at 3:00 pm and the EOJ expects to provide the PNP Secretariat with the result by 4:00 pm.

“We will establish a small election centre at the PNP headquarters and we will provide them with the results as they come in,” Brown told the Observer.

The director of elections refused to say how much the PNP will have to pay for the EOJ to conduct the election but he was confident that this will not be an issue.

According to Brown, the COVID-19 protocols, which were in place for the September 3 General Election, will also be used for the PNP’s internal contest.

These include mandatory temperature tests, hand-washing, social distancing and the use of hand sanitisers.

Both Golding and Hanna have expressed confidence that they will be victorious when the votes are counted, even as their campaign teams scour the island to find every eligible voter.

Over the weekend the Golding camp released a Don Anderson poll showing both contenders in a dead heat.

According to the poll, which was conducted by the Anderson team islandwide between October 24 and 28 with 1,077 respondents aged 18 years and over, when the question as to who is best suited to lead the PNP was asked, Golding was the choice of 45.9 per cent of respondents, while Hanna received 45.3 per cent.

The Golding team underscored that the latest poll came just one month after an initial Anderson poll had Golding eight points behind Hanna.

But the Hanna team later released a Bluedot poll with three key questions related to her suitability to lead the PNP..

In answer to the first question: “Who do you believe would be more likely to defeat Andrew Holness?” 46 per cent of respondents said Hanna, 36 per cent said Golding, while 17 per cent said they were not sure.

When the Bluedot researchers asked: “Who do you believe is more likely to attract youth to the PNP?” 73 per cent pointed to Hanna, 17 per cent said Golding, and eight per cent said they were not sure.

The third question: “Who do you believe would appeal more to the Jamaican electorate?” saw 52 per cent of respondents choosing Hanna, 34 per cent Golding, and 13 per cent said they were not sure.