THE Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) has sought to allay fears raised by the People’s National Party (PNP) about today’s vote by members of the security forces and election day workers.

In a release Thursday morning the PNP said it was aware of troubling anomalies in the arrangements for election day workers, police, and military.

“The party has received reports that a number of police officers assigned to non-geographic formations such as Chaplaincy, TCND (Transnational Crime and Narcotics Division), and the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB), have had their polling stations changed to Kingston, despite having previously voted in rural parishes across the island for their entire careers,” said the PNP in the release which directed questions to its spokesman on national security Peter Bunting.

“This arrangement means that officers who have consistently voted in places like South St James, South Manchester, and other constituencies must now travel to Kingston in order to exercise their constitutional right. Many are unaware of this change, and failure to travel could result in their disenfranchisement,” the party said.

“The PNP finds this deeply concerning. Those who risk their lives daily to serve and protect should not face unnecessary obstacles to cast their vote. We urge the Electoral Office of Jamaica and the JCF (Jamaica Constabulary Force) to clarify the situation immediately, ensure that affected personnel are properly informed, and implement measures to prevent disenfranchisement,” added the PNP in its release.

The party said the integrity of Jamaica’s electoral system must be safeguarded at all times and it “stands firmly in defence of free, fair, and accessible elections, where every eligible voter has a fair chance to participate, without confusion, inconvenience, or undue hardship”.

But the EOJ, in its release, said police and military electors are assigned to their voting location based on information it received from the JCF High Command and the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF).

According to the EOJ, that information was used to determine where officers are placed to vote today.

“Prior to the announcement of the election, police and military officers were advised through the media and other channels to check the voters’ list to ensure that they are assigned to the correct location,” the EOJ added.

Just over 45,400 police, soldiers and election day workers are on the list to vote today. This includes 12,793 police electors, 5,126 military electors, and 27,536 election day workers who will mark their ballots at 215 locations.

The list of polling locations includes schools, churches, police stations, community centres, and military bases. Ten polling locations with 38 polling stations have been assigned for members of the military to vote; 21 locations with 92 polling stations for the police; and 184 locations with 197 polling stations for election day workers.

In 2016, 53 per cent (5,322) of the 10,041 members of the JCF on the voters’ list took the opportunity to vote. However, only 930 (36 per cent) of the 2,569 soldiers registered to vote actually cast a ballot.

In the 2020 General Election, conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, the numbers fell even more with only 4,849 of 11,512 (42 per cent) of the police registered to vote casting their ballots, and just 982 of the 4,181 (23 per cent) soldiers on the voters’ list exercising their franchise.

Election day workers usually record more than 60 per cent of the people registered to vote for general elections in Jamaica.