APPROXIMATELY 75,000 Jamaicans are eligible to vote in four by-elections today and the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is confident that it will win all four.

But the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) is equally confident that it will win the two by-elections it is contesting.

Voters in St Andrew North Western and Trelawny Southern will go to the polls to elect new Members of Parliament, while electors in Aenon Town, Clarendon; and Morant Bay, St Thomas, will vote for new councillors.

The PNP opted not to nominate candidates to contest the parliamentary elections, but has put up candidates in the two local government contests.

On Thursday, JLP General Secretary Dr Horace Chang charged that the PNP has proxies in the parliamentary races through independent candidates Lloyd “Mozy” Gillings (Trelawny Southern), Rohan Banks and Carl Marshall (St Andrew North Western).

“There is no doubt that the Jamaica Labour Party will have the two Members of Parliament,” declared Chang as he responded to questions at a media briefing called by the JLP to disclose plans for its 81st annual conference to be held this Sunday.

“The activities of the Opposition reflect their tendency to look for cheap shots and gimmickry to attract the attention of the people,” added Chang as he pointed out that each of the candidates nominated as independents are current members of the PNP and have represented the party in contested elections in the past.

According to Chang, the nomination of independent candidates with ties to the PNP shows an element of mischief and disrespect to the constituents, but this has galvanised people to support the two JLP candidates — Duane Smith in St Andrew North Western and Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert in Trelawny Southern.

“The Jamaica Labour Party’s organisation is strong, working arduously and we look towards four successes come tomorrow [today],” declared Chang.

But PNP General Secretary Dr Dayton Campbell told the Jamaica Observer on Thursday that his party’s candidates are poised for victory in the municipal by-elections.

“If Dr Chang believes that the JLP is going to win all four by-elections then he is delusional,” declared Campbell.

“We have been in Aenon Town and Morant Bay, we have our full workforce, they are fully engaged, enthusiastic, and we have done our work to put together our canvas which we have a winnable target and we expect to win both divisions tomorrow [today] quite comfortably,” added Campbell, who said that a double victory for the PNP would send a message to the Government.

“The message will be sent. We understand our assignment,” quipped Campbell.

In the Morant Bay Division, a close battle is expected between the PNP’s Rosemarie Shaw, a political veteran, and the JLP’s neophyte Winston Downie.

In the contest for the Aenon Town Division the PNP and the JLP have made it clear that they will be pulling out all the stops as they aim for victory.

A traditional PNP stronghold, Aenon Town Division was flipped by the JLP’s Marjorie McLeod-McFarlane in the local government elections in February this year, making it only the second time the party has won that division.

McLeod-McFarlane’s death forced this by-election in which the PNP’s Delroy Dawson — a former councillor for the division — and the JLP’s Suzette Barton will battle for the right to represent the division.

In the race for the two seats in Parliament, Banks has indicated that he has pulled out of the election in St Andrew North Western — even though his name will be on the ballot today — while Marshall has claimed that he is contesting the seat just to give electors a choice.

But there has been no such concession from Gillings, who has predicted that he will amass at least 3,000 votes to win the seat and become the next Member of Parliament for Trelawny Southern.

“I know I may be a David, but I believe I am the right person to bring back South Trelawny and put it back where it used to be. As you know, everybody expecting a low voter turnout. We are looking for a reasonable amount to win. We are looking at between 3,000, 4,000, 3,500 votes,” Gillings told the Observer following his nomination.

The Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) has indicated that it is ready for today’s by-election with 271 polling stations to be open.

According to the EOJ, 74,700 electors will be eligible to vote based on the May 31, 2024 voters’ list.

Only electors registered to vote in these constituencies and electoral divisions will be allowed to vote in the by-elections.

The polls will open at 7:00 am and close at 5:00 pm, after which the preliminary counting of ballots will immediately take place.

Electors have been reminded to take their voter ID card to the polling station.

Voters are entitled to three hours’ time-off from work to vote in the by-elections. The three hours are in addition to the usual lunch hour. The law, however, does not apply to people who start working at 10:00 am or later or end work at or before 2:00 pm.