Is the level of voter apathy overstated in Jamaica?
OVER THE last few election cycles there has been a lot of debate and grave concern even, over the supposedly low voter turnout in national elections in Jamaica. “A plague on both your houses,” “Our democracy is in trouble,” are phrases that have been ringing in our ears and dominating the opinion pages as seasoned political analysts, and pseudo political commentators nee activists, do the rounds following national polls.
On the face of it, with actual turnouts of 48.3 per cent in the general elections of 2016, 30 per cent in the local government elections later that same year (2016), 37.85 per cent in the most recent general elections in 2020, and now 29 per cent in the just concluded local elections of February 26, there may be some seeming validity to the cries of a crisis of voter apathy that is plaguing the Jamaican democracy.
The truth though, is that the time may have come for this debate to also include and expose the present serious flaws in the composition of our voters list and the flawed inherent workings in that system that is destined to prolong the narrative of acute voter apathy.
To start with, when last have we had a cleaning and full reverification of the present voters list? One could be incorrect; however, quick research indicates that this was last done almost 16 years ago, around 2008. If this is indeed the reality, some poignant questions emerge – In the first instance, are there still on the Jamaican voters list, thousands of Jamaicans who have long migrated our shores and in fact are now citizens within the US, Canadian and other democracies – and have never set back foot or have no intentions to fly in for the purpose of voting when elections are held?
Second, and quite importantly, do we have an effective process and system that routinely removes the dead from still being counted among the living on our published voters list? And finally, how efficient is the electoral process in facilitating and managing internal voter migration towards encouraging participation in local elections?
For example, many constituencies suffer from large blocs, sometimes up to a third of their electorate, having moved physically out of the constituency and who for either geography or other logistical reasons cannot return to their original constituency to vote on election day. In fact, a key part of organising for political parties in modern elections is to provide transportation bus and taxi fares to, for example, a voter who was living in Papine, and as such is registered to vote in that division, but during the course of the four to five years between the last election, moved to Old Harbour, Portmore or even Montego Bay.
The truth is, a large number of electors just cannot find that extra energy to leave work in New Kingston, to go up to Constitutional Hill in East Rural St Andrew and then journey back down to go over to their new home in Portmore, St Catherine.
The stark reality then, in all of this, is that the real, living, present and available electors are greatly overstated on the official voters list. So yes, though the noise and wails of voter apathy may indeed be real – the degree of it may certainly be not as stark as it appears. Indeed, a glance at the website of the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) puts the total list of registered electors eligible to vote in elections in Jamaica at some 2,001,759.
The question though: are there really 2,001,759 functional, living, and available electors in Jamaica? Again, from a glance, the numbers are ever changing, but at the time of writing, the total amount of electors who voted in the elections on February 26, was some 586,386 individuals. And yes, 586,386 of 2,001,759 is 29 per cent. However, 586,386 of say 1,500,000 is 39 per cent based on real eligibility in the context of the present system and how it works.
So, within this raging and concerning debate regarding voter apathy, the ECJ must now urgently look to undertake, in the first instance, an urgent reverification of the voters list.
In 2015 then chairman of the ECJ, Dorothy Pine-McLarty, did acknowledge that “We have been hampered in carrying out this work, primarily by budgetary constraints”. Outside of that, the ECC must move too, to institute a clear and effective process of removing dead electors from the voters list.
In 2019, present Director of Elections Glasspole Brown confirmed the removal of over 71,529 electors confirmed as deceased “during house-to-house visits … and an ongoing basis through information from several sources”. Additionally, too, the ECJ must find a way to legally remove electors who are no longer resident citizens of the country from the voters list. Yes, there may be constitutional and legal issues, but perhaps this may be where the national reverification exercise could ascertain who really lives here and who live a farrin!
What is very clear now, however, is that further reforms and modernising of the structure and processes around the workings of our electoral system are urgently needed to strengthen our participatory democracy – to close out, we must also have a system where any elector, having moved, must be able to exercise their franchise easily and conveniently wherever they are, and at whatever time elections are called, without the cumbersome transfer process that presently obtains.