SCORES OF election day workers and members of the security forces who were slated to vote yesterday were unable to do so, because their names were not on the special voters' list.

However, the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EoJ) said these were minor glitches.

Information officer at the Electoral Office, Neville Graham, confirmed last night that some of these persons were not able to vote, but insisted it was not a large number. He said most of those affected had probably not been registered as members of the security forces, hence their names would not have been picked up by the EoJ staff.

Mr. Graham said many of them were not enumerated as either police or soldiers and also that the verification process seemed to have broken down.

"The police operations obviously broke down at the divisional level," Mr. Graham said. He explained that they were asked to check and verify the list but, in some cases, police personnel were transferred and the information not communicated to the EoJ.

In the case of police personnel, many turned up at polling stations across the island to find out that they were still on the civilian list. Special arrangements will now have to be made for them to vote as civilians on Wednesday, when the rest of the population go to the polls.

Election day workers who were not able to vote yesterday will also be allowed to vote on Wednesday, Mr. Graham told The Gleaner yesterday.

He said some could not have been accommodated on the list, as they were not enumerated in time.

Despite the problems, the polls opened on time yesterday and a full complement of staff from the EoJ was on hand to monitor the exercise.

No problems were encountered at St. Mary's Church Hall, East Central St. Andrew, where 30 election day workers were down to vote, according to Georgia Grant, Presiding Officer. At 1:00 p.m., 12 of the 30 workers on the list had already cast their ballots.

It was also smooth sailing at the Olympic Gardens police station, West Central St. Andrew, where 35 workers were due to vote. Twenty had already done so by 1:15 p.m.

Of the 209 workers down to vote in South West St. Andrew at the Haile Selassie High School, 135 had done so by 1:30 p.m. "We opened on time. We were here just watching the clock to open," Edwin Thomas, Assistant Presiding Officer, said. He added that there was a full complement of staff from the parties contesting the seat.

At the Elletson Road police station, Central Kingston, at least three policemen were told their names were still on the civilian list, so they will have to vote on Wednesday.

"Not very smoothly," was the response from Ronald Riley, the Returning Officer based at the Hunts Bay police station, where 183 police officers were down to vote. He said some of those who turned up to vote were still on the civilian list, while others were down to vote elsewhere.

At the Duhaney Park police station, Western St. Andrew, where election day workers voted, five names were not on the voters' list. Dennis Kelly, Returning Officer, told The Gleaner he will submit a list with the names to the EoJ so they can vote on Wednesday.

Dorothy Dyce, Presiding Officer at Maverley Gospel Hall, North West St. Andrew, said some names that were not on the list were in the black book.

When The Gleaner arrived at the Mobile Reserve Unit, voting was progressing steadily, despite getting off to a slightly late start. Both senior officials and election observers claim that there were very few glitches and workers could be seen checking and verifying names and identifications of each voter.

Members of the Island Special Constabulary Force (ISCF), the K-9 Division and the Mounted Patrol all voted at the Mobile Reserve.

Senior police officials who spoke with The Gleaner team said that there was some confusion in the early stages, as the lawmen returning from duty and those waiting to go out, were trying to vote as quickly as possible.

[What the hell does this mean

At Up Park Camp, as the soldiers at the front gate, equipped with sniffer dogs, inspected all unmarked vehicles.]

The Mamby Park Baptist and Stella Maris churches were two of the locations used as voting centres for election day workers. At both locations, things were very quiet. At Mamby Park, there were no persons voting when The Gleaner arrived and a small number was at Stella Maris, but officers from both polling stations said that there was a rush when the polls first opened at 8:00 a.m., as persons were trying to vote before going to work.