EOJ’s preparations in high gear for election

With the two major political parties darting across the length and breadth of Jamaica in the heights of the political campaign to win the hearts and minds of voters, the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) says it is well advanced in its preparations to conduct the upcoming general elections.

Director of Elections Glasspole Brown says the EOJ has recruited the majority of the workers needed to conduct the national polls. However, he said a few posts are left to be filled.

The EOJ boss told The Gleaner that the EOJ is now in its final stage of training recruits for the process.

Brown said the EOJ is preparing some 30,000 people, including presiding officers, poll clerks, reserve supervisors, and a new category called polling station assistants, as well as the one-day police personnel to conduct the polls.

Polling station locations have already been identified, with the EOJ increasing the number above what was used in the February 2024 Local Government Elections.

In the local government election last year, the EOJ utilised 6,796 polling stations. However, Brown said that in the upcoming election, the electoral body will be using 7,350 polling stations.

At the same time, the director of elections is reminding persons who have not yet collected their identification cards to visit the EOJ’s offices in their constituencies to do so.