Go out and vote, says Prof Miller
By Lynford Simpson, Staff Reporter

Miller

PROFESSOR ERROL Miller, chairman of the Electoral Advisory Committee (EAC), has urged Jamaicans to go out and vote on, Wednesday, October 16.

Noting that the general election was being held during Heritage Week, Professor Miller said: "What we do during this week is to celebrate the freedoms and the rights won for us by our forebearers and there is none more precious than the right to vote. Therefore, I would say to everybody that they need to go out and exercise that vote."

There are just over 1.3 million electors on the voters' list and public opinion polls have consistently pointed to a voter turnout of about 74 per cent. The EAC chairman said Jamaicans should overcome their fears and go out and exercise their franchise. "Jamaica was never built on fear. It was always built on courage and people must exercise that right," the EAC chairman emphasised.

Professor Miller also had a word of warning for those who would try to beat the system by voting more than once. "We are saying to people this time round; 'don't try it, it's a waste of time'," he declared. Professor Miller explained that much had been done in recent years to reduce or eliminate corruption in the electoral system, while increasing efficiency and competence.

With the Constituted Authority having the power to void the election in constituencies where malpractices are deemed have to occurred, the EAC further warned that those who would seek to "bogus the system" would only "hurt the people they are trying to help".

"If perchance people succeed to bogus it we are going to discover it and run it over, so it's a waste of time; it does not make sense," he stressed.

Professor Miller said he was encouraged that there was a lull in politically-motivated violence since the EAC last Monday asked the Commissioner of Police to curtail campaigning in six violence-prone constituencies. He cautioned that a distinction be made between political violence and criminal violence.

He expressed concern about the planned mass meetings by the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People's National Party (PNP) on the weekend, noting that such meetings have sparked clashes between the supporters of the two major parties. The JLP was scheduled to hold its rally in Sam Sharpe Square, Montego Bay, last night while the PNP is scheduled to hold its rally tonight in Mandeville, Manchester.

Meantime, there are still about 100,000 voter identification cards that have remained uncollected since the 1997 enumeration exercise. The cards can be collected at the various constituency offices throughout the country. Those not in possession of a card on Wednesday will still be allowed to vote but, according to Professor Miller, they will have to swear, answer some personal questions and agree to be fingerprinted.