Democracy and reciprocal obligations
THERE IS an upside for the Constitution and democracy. People quarantined because they have, or may be infected with, COVID-19 will be allowed to vote in tomorrow’s general election. The question now is whether some of them will have enough time to do so, and whether the authorities are up to the job of balancing people’s rights to exercise their franchise and protecting the health of citizens.
We see no reason why, with strong leadership, an exercise of personal discipline, and a robust execution of the protocols the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) has for the vote, that both can’t be accomplished.
The question of whether all eligible COVID-19 patients, if they wish, will be able to cast their ballots arises because the Government, particularly the health ministry, dithered over the issue, so as to have effectively short-circuited a fulsome discussion of their eleventhhour guidelines.
In liberal democracies, few rights are as sacrosanct as citizens’ability to elect their government. But individual rights aren’t exercisable in oblivion of the rights of other persons, or those of the community. Finding the appropriate balance between the two, however, is a matter that often confronts governments – as happened in the case of Jamaican coronavirus patients.
COVID-19 is a contagious disease that is spread primarily by droplets from infected people. It is understandable, in the face of the global epidemic and the absence of a vaccine against the virus, that infected persons are ordered to be quarantined and, in some cases, isolated from other people. With more than 1,000 confirmed infections over the past fortnight, and nearly 30,000 people in some level of quarantine, the authorities, in enforcing the disaster management laws, equivocated on whether these patients would be let out to vote.
However, nothing in Jamaica’s Constitution, or its electoral laws, prevents ill persons, except the “certified insane”, from exercising their right to vote. Moreover, the Constitution permits infringement of fundamental rights only to the extent of what is“demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society”.
The health ministry has now said, appropriately, that registered voters in quarantine will be allowed out to cast their ballots. Except that those in isolation from other persons will, on the face of it, have only one hour away from their places of quarantine – between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. – to vote. It is not clear how many such people there are, and how far their places of quarantine are from their voting venues. Such information ought to be easy to determine.
However, an hour to leave, vote and return to quarantine facilities seems incredibly short. We hope it is the result of considered analysis and won’t become a matter of future legal contention.
With the authorities having accepted the right of these citizens to vote, we expect them to reciprocate with responsible behaviour and in fulfilling their obligations to other Jamaicans by scrupulously adhering to the terms of their temporary release from quarantine – such as reporting their movements, maintaining appropriate physical distance and wearing masks.
Those obligations, generally, are no different to what Jamaicans owe to themselves and to others: mutual protection.
Which starts with an assumption that everyone in whose physical presence you are is infected with COVID19, and that you are one lapse in adhering to protocols from becoming infected.
In this regard, wearing of masks, properly, in public places, including in public transportation, should be the norm rather than an option to be haphazardly followed. Physical distance and the frequent sanitisation of hands should be observed.
POLITICAL LEADERSHIP
In any event, these are not voluntary requirements and shouldn’t be treated at such. The regulations upon which they rest have the force of law, and should be enforced. We, therefore, expect that at the voters’venues tomorrow, all the rules laid out by the ECJ for the conduct of the election will be scrupulously followed, on pain of the allowable penalties.
However, sustaining the protocols, a necessity if Jamaica is to live with COVID-19 – which it is agreed has to be the case, at least into the medium term – will require political leadership. People live by examples. Political leaders, in this respect, have fallen short, such as with their wanton disregard for the protocols during the election campaign.
We shudder to think what might have been the outcome were this a traditional hustings, or if the rise in COVID-19 infections didn’t cause a halt of some campaign activities. Having lost the plot, the politicians should start again – from today.