Letter of the Day | Time to update registration, voting processes
Published:Thursday | September 4, 2025 | 3:26 AM
THE EDITOR, Madam:
Jamaica’s electoral system is well-established. For decades, checks and balances have guaranteed free and fair elections. However, while the system is just, it also needs modernising. If we are serious about engaging Millennials and Generation Z, the time has come to update our registration and voting processes.
On the eve of the September 3 general election, I spoke with a millennial. He told me that after asking five of his peers if they intended to vote, he discovered he was the only one both registered and planning to vote. Their common complaint was that the registration system was full of obstacles – finding an EOJ office, filling out paper forms, waiting for address verification. For a generation that does almost everything online, this process feels discouraging and outdated.
Recent RJRGLEANER-commissioned polls by Don Anderson confirm this concerning trend. Only 39.3 per cent of Jamaicans aged 18–24 and 44.4 per cent of those 25–34 said they intended to vote, compared to over 54 per cent of those 55 and older. The message is clear: younger Jamaicans are not engaging in the electoral process.
Part of the problem lies in the voting structure itself. Citizens must return to their designated polling place to cast a ballot. For my friend working in Kingston but registered in St Elizabeth, that meant driving across parishes to vote. Today’s younger workforce is highly mobile, frequently changing jobs and residences. Long journeys on election day are hardly an incentive. In fact, at my own polling station, I observed that most voters were over 50 years old.
The voting process itself creates additional barriers. With a voter ID, you present your card, scan your fingerprint, and proceed – often slowly due to technical glitches. Without the card, you face even longer verification through questions. This tedious pace may not bother older voters, but younger generations, used to speed and efficiency, are left frustrated.
Modernisation does not mean weakening electoral integrity. It means introducing secure online registration, flexible voting options, and streamlined polling procedures. If our young people can bank, shop, and study online, they should also be able to register – and eventually vote – using technology.
If we fail to act, we risk losing an entire generation of voters. Democracy thrives only when all voices are heard. Jamaica must modernise its voting systems, or resign itself to a future where Millennials and Gen Z observe democracy from the sidelines.
FR. DONALD CHAMBERS