KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Government and political parties will have to use information and appeal to civic responsibility to combat voter apathy in the country, after Jamaica recorded just 39 per cent voter turnout for the recently concluded General Elections, says Professor Dr Lloyd Waller.

“The solution is going to have to be civics. People need to understand the importance of participation and its impact, and the implications of lack of participation and the economic development of a country,” the digital transformation policy and governance professor at the University of the West Indies, Mona told Observer Online on Thursday.

The country recorded around 37 per cent of voters in the 2020 election, which was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, the turnout was approximately two per cent higher, with a total of 819,279 of the 2,077,800 eligible voters casting ballots.

The number exceeded the 2020 turnout by just under 100,000, according to the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ).

In response to the showing, Waller suggested the voters’ list could be reviewed.

“It is important for us to review the voters’ list to ensure it’s actually a low voter turnout. I know that the EOJ has been doing a lot of work, great work, in updating and cleaning the list, but the work should continue because it’s very important for us to have a clean list, for us to get an understanding and a gauge of a true picture of the voter turnout,” Professor Waller said.

“Generally, low voter turnout is a result of what is called disenchantment, where the citizens, especially the young people, feel that voting won’t change the outcomes,” he explained.

Added Waller,”Political apathy, political efficacy, are reasons that people generally don’t want to vote. And the apathy has a lot to do with issues such as trust [the] ‘I don’t have any interest because I want to stay away from the corruption’ that people talk about. So, that is one thing to take into consideration.”

He did, however, have kudos for both political parties, who he said did well with engaging the public, albeit late.

“I think in terms of dealing with apathy, I like the fact that political leaders, both political parties, did a lot of political information. It should have translated into more votes, but it didn’t. But I think I can understand why, because it was late in the day.”

Waller is lamenting the selection of a government chosen by the minority, once again.

“This is not the first time this minority government has been put in place. The good thing about it is that even though it is a minority government…it still reflects the interests of all Jamaicans,” he said.

At least a few of the 39 per cent of voters who cast a ballot actually flew into the island to do so, sparking furious debate, once again, about diaspora voters.

Waller didn’t comment on whether the entire diaspora should be allowed to vote, but said that for those still on the voters’ list, “they have family here, they have assets here, they have interests and investments here, they’re tied to Jamaica, and they love Jamaica, and they are Jamaican citizens so, they need to have a voice as well”.

— Dana Malcolm