In a major embarrassment for Jamaica’s electoral authorities, the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) has revised the final count for the Local Government Election that took place on Monday, February 26, giving seven municipal corporations to the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and six to the People’s National Party (PNP).

The PNP’s six includes the Portmore City Municipality.

The ECJ also reported a 20-20 tie for the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC).

The revised results as announced by the ECJ Saturday evening is a major slap down for the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ), which insisted that the JLP had won seven municipal corporations to five for the PNP while not counting Portmore which PNP General Secretary, Dr Dayton Campbell, has insisted all week is a municipality like the 13 others.

The shifting count as reported by the EOJ all week resulted in both parties claiming victory and even with the revised data presented by the ECJ, it is not known whether the PNP will revise its position as it has insisted that it won the elections, claiming victory for the KSAMC since it will appoint the mayor, having won the popular vote in Kingston and St Andrew and nationally.

According to the ECJ, the JLP was victorious in St Thomas, Portland, Clarendon, St James, St Elizabeth, Trelawny and St Ann. It said the PNP was victorious in Westmoreland, Hanover, St Mary, St Catherine, Manchester and Portmore where it claimed nine of the 12 electoral divisions.

Said the ECJ: “With all the ballots counted, the result is that the JLP won the election for control of the local authorities with seven of the local authorities and the PNP won six of the local authorities inclusive of the Portmore Municipality”.

The ECJ explained that in the case of a tie in the number of divisions in a municipal corporation, as in the case of the KSAMC, the Eighth Schedule of the Representation of the People Act (ROPA) guides the process for the selection of the chairperson (mayor).

Paragraph 61, sub-paragraphs 5(a) and (b) of the Eighth Schedule of the ROPA states: In the event of a tie in the votes in the course of electing a Chairperson of a Municipal Corporation, the principal returning officer shall –

a) have a casting vote, and shall exercise that casting vote in favour of the Councillor who has the support of the majority of the Councillors who are members of the political party that received the majority of the votes cast in the area within the jurisdiction of the Municipal Corporation in the preceding election held pursuant to this Schedule; and

b) thereafter preside over the election of the Deputy Mayor and in the event of a tie in the votes, exercise a casting vote in favour of the Councillor who has the support of the majority of the Councillors who are not members of the political party of which the Chairperson is a member.

The ECJ noted that the final count in respect of the KSAMC indicates that the PNP and the JLP will each have 20 councillors. As such, it said the PNP, having received a majority of the votes cast in that municipal corporation, will determine who will be the chairman (mayor), while the JLP will thereafter select the deputy mayor.
Meanwhile, the ECJ said the meeting of the KSAMC “shall be held on Thursday March 7, 2024, at noon”.

The Principal Returning Officer by law will officiate in the selection process of the PNP’s nominee for the position of mayor and for the JLP nominee as deputy mayor.