KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) has invited several local and international bodies to send representatives to observe Jamaica’s upcoming general election.

Among those invited are representatives from the Caribbean Community (Caricom), the Organisation of American States (OAS), the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Centre for Electoral Advisory and Promotion (CAPEL) and Jamaica’s domestic observer group Citizens Action for Free and Fair Elections (CAFFE).

ECJ Chairman Earl Jarrett emphasised that international and local observers have contributed significantly to Jamaica meeting international standards.

“In keeping with our mandate of conducting free and fair elections, the commission recognises the role of observer missions in providing an independent and impartial assessment of the electoral process. It contributes to capacity building and sharing of expertise and best practices across the region as well,” he said.

Mission teams are deployed to observe Jamaica’s electoral process, including the general atmosphere, the political climate, the ECJ’s preparations for the election, activities on election day and post-election proceedings. The main purpose of observer missions is to gather information, report on their findings and make recommendations to the ECJ.

Local and international election observation was first introduced in Jamaica for the 1997 general election.