The elections over the years
By Lloyd Williams, Senior Associate Editor

A section of a massive crowd attending a PNP rally in Sam Sharpe Square in 1980.- File

THE OCTOBER 16, 2002 general election will be Jamaica's 14th.

1. Jamaica's first general election under universal adult suffrage took place almost 58 years ago, on December 14, 1944.

The Jamaica Labour Party, barely a year old then, having been formed on July 8, 1943, won that election, taking 22 of the 32 seats in the House of Representatives, the People's National Party, which was formed four years earlier on September 18, 1938, getting five, and independent candidates getting five. It saw the election in St. James North Western of Iris R. Collins, (JLP) the first woman elected to the House of Representatives.

The election could be said to have been dominated by independents, with 68 independents and 14 representatives of parties other than the JLP and the PNP offering themselves as candidates.

The largest percentage of the electorate to vote in the election was in Portland Eastern where the candidates were two independents Harold E. Allan and T. Adrian Gray.

Of the 19,112 voters on the list in the constituency, 69.8% voted, 7,542 for Allan and 4,067 for Gray. The constituency with the largest number of electors, was St. Andrew Central with 28,153, and the smallest, Trelawny Southern, with 11,213. The lowest voter-turnout was in St. Catherine North Eastern with only 43.4% of the 23,268 electors voting.

2. The JLP again won the December 20, 1949 general election by taking 17 seats to 13 for the PNP; independents won five seats. A total of 732,217 electors were elegible to vote. But this election was characterised by the fact that the party which received the majority of votes received the minority of seats. Although the JLP won 17 seats, it polled fewer votes, 195,538 or 42.7%, than the 203,048 or 43.5% the PNP received.

3. The January 12, 1955 general election marked the start of the tradition (which was to continue until 1997) of the electorate voting out the incumbent party after two five- year terms in government. So this meant the first general election victory for the People's National Party which won 19 seats, the JLP taking the other 13. The independents and minor parties, the Farmers' Party, the National Labour Party, the Right Party and the People's Freedom Movement, were completely shut out.

4. For the fourth general election, July 12, 1959, the number of seats was increased from 32 to 45. The PNP won 29 seats with the JLP getting 16. The JLP howled that the election was bogus, a reaction that tends to be typical of the losing opposition party which invariably challenges the legitimacy of the incumbent government which is returned to power.

5. With the fifth election, April 10, 1962, it was time to change again, the electorate returning the JLP to power with 26 seats, with the PNP getting 19.

6. Election No. 6, held on February 21, 1967, saw the number of seats being increased again, this time from 45 to 53. The JLP won another five-year term, getting 33 seats with 20 going to the PNP. This snap election announced on January 25, by Acting Prime Minister Donald Sangster, was described by Norman Manley, the PNP president, as "a rape.

7. The election of February 29, 1972, ended with victory for the PNP which took 32 seats to 21 for the JLP.

8. Election No. 8, held on December 15, 1976 again saw an increase in the number of constituencies. It went up to 60 from 53. The PNP won 47 seats, with 13 going to the JLP.

After the 1979 general election the JLP and the PNP began discussions aimed at providing an electoral system which is fair, impartial, honest efficient, free from fear, and the integrity of which would justify public confidence and acceptance of the results by the losing party. The talks led to a special joint select committee of the Senate and the House being set up and to bipartisan meetings outside of the committee to discuss electoral reform. They developed into the formation of the Electoral Advisory Committee which had its first meeting on October 9, 1979 and is still working on the issue of electoral reform.

9. By the time Election No. 9 came around on October 30, 1980, it was time to change again. This campaign was fought along hard ideological

10. On the night of November 26, 1983 Prime Minister Edward Seaga announced at a JLP mass rally in Half-Way Tree Square, that he would be calling general election on December 15. This was uncharacteristic of the JLP as usually it is the PNP which does not complete its full term in office and call elections early.

The pretext on which this snap election was called, was a statement by Dr. Paul Robertson, then general secretary of the PNP, in which he condemned "in the strongest term the deception enacted on the Jamaican people by the Prime Minister regarding the September 30 IMF tests".

In the statement, issued on November 24 and published in The Gleaner the following day, Dr. Robertson stated: "This deception takes on stark reality with the announcement by the Prime Minister to the country yesterday devaluing the Jamaican dollar by some 77 per cent, creating a net worth of thirty-two cents to the US dollar."

The statement accused the government of having failed the IMF test, despite a statement by Edward Seaga, the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, that Jamaica had satisfied the requirements of the IMF under three headings used to evaluate the country's performance in Net International Reserves, Net Domestic Credit and Net Domestic Assets.

The statement said the country should have been told immediately that it had not passed the IMF performance tests and said the Prime Minister owed an explanation to the people of the country.

"In these circumstances", Dr. Robertson's statement said, "the only honourable thing would be for the Minister of Finance to resign. The People's National Party hereby calls for his resignation."

The Minister of Finance and the Prime Minister was one and the same person - Edward Seaga.

The conventional wisdom then was that Mr. Seaga and the were riding high on the tide of Jamaica's role

in the US-led Caribbean peace-keeping force which invaded Grenada on October 25, 1983 to oust the communist military regime there and restore the country to normality. And so Mr. Seaga and the JLP wanted to cash in on the electorate.

According to Mr. Seaga then,, the demand for his resignation was a "challenge to my sincerity, my honesty and my integrity based upon a public statement which I made, the accuracy of which was the subject of technical interpretations between Jamaica and the IMF, the resolution of which was not concluded having been superseded by another agreement" (with the IMF).

The PNP boycotted the election on the ground that it was being held on the 1980 voters' list and so would disfranchise 150,000 people. On Nomination Day, November 26 JLP candidate only were nominated in 54 constituencies. These candidates were elected unopposed.

On Election Day, candidates from the Republican Party contested in two constituencies, the Christian Conscience Movement in one, the Jamaica United Front in one and independent candidates in three constituencies, but all were unsuccessful.

11. Election No. 11 held on February 8, 1989, ushered in the PNP with Michael Manley again at the helm. The PNP took 45 seats and the JLP, 15. According to a report by the Electoral Office of Jamaica, violence marred polling in several constituencies. Ballot boxes were stolen in St. Mary Western and ballots were stolen in St. Andrew Western, Kingston Eastern and Port Royal, and St. Elizabeth North Western. In St. Catherine Southern a group of men mobbed the returning officer and, stole ballots and his portable radio.

12. In election No. 12, held on March 30, 1993 the PNP improved its standing by winning 52 of the 60 seats; the JLP won eight. Violence marred polling in 14 constituencies both before and after Election Day. In St. Catherine Central Dennis Brooks, the Returning Officer, was killed by gunmen three days before Election Day. On Election Day ballot boxes were reported stolen in five constituencies. A report dated May 11, 1993 to the Electoral Advisory Committee from the Director of Elections stated:

"I have examined the report of the Returning Officers on the conduct of the last General Election. The examination shows as follows:

14 constituencies in which violence took place.

6 constituencies in which ballot boxes were stolen.

2 constituencies in which stolen ballot boxes were not returned.

16 constituencies in which some polling stations opened late.

4 constituencies in which the polls closed earlier than 5 p.m.

17 constituencies reported they received some electoral materials late from head office.

10 constituencies reported that election officials did not show up on Election Day.

4 constituencies reported inadequate security at some polling stations.

9 constituencies reported illegal voting.

3 constituencies reported inadequate training of election officials.

1 constituency stated that too many stations were in one cluster.

2 constituencies reported presiding officers' errors.

4 constituencies reported stolen ballots.

2 constituencies reported no voting in one polling division.

1 constituency reported no voting in two polling divisions.

1 constituency reported the loss of ballots while in custody of the security forces."

On the application of the Constituted Authority the court voided the poll in St. Andrew West Central.

The JLP complained long and loud about the conduct of this election. Its charges include the late opening, non-opening and premature closure of polling stations, the absence of electoral supplies, partisan behaviour of some electoral officials, the absence or late arrival of voters' lists and supplementary lists, the intimidation of voters, bogus voting and over-voting and the unprofessional role of some members of the security forces.

On Election Day, Edward Seaga, the JLP leader, was surrounded by a threatening throng of PNP supporters at the Maverley All-Age School, St. Andrew North Western, where he had gone to investigate irregularities. There was a stand-off between his police security detail and other policemen who wanted to disarm them, and after several hours, Lt. Col. Linton Graham of the Jamaica Defence Force provided the security for Mr. Seaga and his team to leave the area safely.

This election ushered in the use of high technology, with cellular phones and helicopters being used in Clarendon South Eastern by Peter Bunting of the PNP to defeat former Prime Minister Hugh Shearer of the JLP.

In preparation for the March 30, 1993 general election, the Canadian International Development Agency shipped to Jamaica 6,200 steel ballot boxes for use in the election. Those boxes replaced the wooden ones used in previous years. A special feature of the gift boxes was that each had a special identification number to prevent fraudulent switching of the boxes during an election.

13. Election No. 13, December 18, 1997, saw the PNP breaking the cycle of two consecutive five-year terms for each party and being re-elected for an unprecedented third term. The PNP won 50 seats to 10 for the JLP. Polling was relatively peaceful throughout the island but in St. Catherine South Central an indoor agent was murdered while travelling in the constituency. Generally there were marked improvements in the level of violence and disruptions compared to previous elections.

This election had its share of controversy which was sparked early in the campaign by the initial refusal of Prime Minister P.J. Patterson to allow in International Observers. He relented and for the first time observers were allowed into the polling stations to observe the taking of the polls. A team of international observers headed by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter of the Carter Centre, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, observed the elections. Included in the team were General Colin Powell, retired Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Evander Holyfield, then the World Heavyweight Boxing Champion. Also observing the polls were Citizens Action for Free and Fair Election (CAFFE) a local group headed then by Dr. Alfred Sangster. The reports of both organisations indicate that although there were administrative shortcomings by the Electoral Office of Jamaica, the result of the election reflected the will of the Jamaican electorate.

14. Election No. 14 to be held on Wednesday, October 16, 2002, has all the makings of one of the highest-spending media-orientated elections in this country ever. This big budget election has been fought much more in the electronic media than on the hustings. Reams of paper and posters have given way to diskettes and e-mail and Power Point presentations. And maybe because the JLP had been on the campaign trail long before the PNP, the PNP seemed to have had far fewer public meetings than the JLP. But then the PNP probably does not need them as it has a computerised telephone messaging system to take its campaign right into the homes of the electors for them to evaluate at their convenience.