A by-election is underway in the eastern parish of Portland as the over 36-thousand registered voters in the constituency of Portland Eastern select a representative following the death of Dr. Lynvale Bloomfield.
In what is considered to be a safe seat for the main opposition People’s National Party (PNP), the polls opened at 7 a.m. (local time) where they will cast ballots for the PNP’s Damion Crawford and the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) Ann-Marie Vaz.
In the last general election in 2016, the PNP won the seat by more than 2,000 votes, receiving 8, 606 votes to the JLP’s 6,330.
The vacancy , that led to this by-election, was created by the February 2 murder of Bloomfield.
Voting is taking place in 127 polling stations across 49 voting locations.
Meanwhile, early Thursday, the police boosted security to prepare for any eventualities throughout the day.
Members of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) have also been deployed to the constituency.
Superintendent of Police Duane Wellington, who is in charge of Portland said the police will be visible in the main areas, especially in the parish’s capital of Port Antonio, with the election day cops providing additional security for the polling stations.
“We have a lot of police on the ground. In the town centres, there are a lot of police with police from Kingston, St Catherine and elsewhere and we have the JDF (Jamaica Defence Force) also on board, as well as the one-day police, so we are hoping that everything goes well,” Wellington said.
Meanwhile, the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) has established a team to resolve disputes which may arise during the day.
The EOJ says the team is being co-chaired by Director of Elections Glasspole Brown and Political Ombudsman Donna Parchment Brown.
It will also include a representative of both political parties, senior member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force and the Jamaica Defence Force, and representatives of Citizens Action for Free and Fair Elections (CAFFE), the Umbrella Groups of Churches, the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica and the National Integrity Action.
The polls are scheduled to close at 5 p.m and according to the EOJ, preliminary counting is expected to be completed shortly after 8 p.m.
