Delegates unhappy with the conduct of elections
SEVERAL DELEGATES attending the annual general meeting of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) were unhappy with the conduct of the election of officers. Adolph Thomas, president of the Mavis Bank Farmers’ Group, and Hugh Lyon, the longest-serving director on the JAS board, were unhappy because they were not allowed to vote.
The 88-year-old Lyon was angry that despite presenting his JAS-issued identification card and being a fully paid-up member, he was not allowed to vote, despite appealing the matter all the way up to Christopher Emanuel, chief executive officer of the organisation.
“I have been a director for 30 years, and this is about my 10th presidential election. And it is the first time that I am not able to vote,” the frustrated octogenarian complained to The Gleaner.
A dejected Thomas, who sat outside the polling centre watching others vote, was angry that he had wasted the day.
“They are the ones who encouraged me to come because I had other business to attend to,” he said. The farmer said that he had no intention of coming but responded to the entreaties of the parish manager and turned up half an hour early for the 7 o’clock pick-up.
However, when he arrived on time for registration, he was advised by a member of the JAS executive that someone else would vote in his place. Despite his objections, Thomas was not allowed to vote.
“This is not right, this is not fair,” he said.