KINGSTON, Jamaica — Voter turnout in Jamaica’s General Election climbed to 30.41 per cent by 3:00 pm, according to the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ). For the Local Government by-elections being conducted simultaneously, turnout stood at 27.35 per cent.

The figure places Wednesday’s pace just shy of the 31 per cent recorded by 2:00 pm in the 2020 election, when overall participation ended at a historic low of 37.85 per cent. In 2016, turnout finished significantly higher at 48.37 per cent.

The current turnout numbers may in part be attributable to reports of procedural delays in the voting process in some parts of the island.

For example, in St Elizabeth South Western, there were reports of long lines and rising tempers. At one polling site, voters waited more than two hours in the heat by midday. The delays were largely attributed to electors arriving without their identification cards, necessitating slower alternative verification procedures, while some polling stations also experienced power outages that slowed operations further.

Although the percentage trails the 31 per cent recorded by 2:00 pm in 2020, the absolute number of ballots cast on Wednesday is higher. With 2,077,799 registered voters, about 632,400 had voted by mid-afternoon—roughly 39,000 more than the 593,200 ballots cast at the comparable point in 2020, when the list stood at 1.91 million.

Voting will continue until all electors in line at 5:00 pm are allowed to cast their ballot.