Left: Jamaica Labour Party Leader Bruce Golding dips his finger in the ink after casting his vote at the Millsborough Avenue polling station in the East St. Andrew constituency yesterday. Right: Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller casts her vote in Kingst
Published in the Jamaica Gleaner: Tuesday | September 4, 2007
Petrina Francis, Staff Reporter
The Electronic Identification of the Voter and Ballot Issuing System (EIVBIS) yesterday delayed voting in some constituencies.
The system, which was used for the first time in a general election, identifies the elector electronically and issues the ballot to the voter. It was used in 13 constituencies.
The Gleaner was greeted with a long queue when our team visited the White Marl Primary and Junior High School in the South Central St. Catherine constituency, where the People's National Party's Sharon Hay-Webster went up against the Jamaica Labour Party's candidate Devon McDaniel.
Scores of electors stood in the scorching morning sun waiting to cast their ballots and complained bitterly about long delays.
"Some areas are a bit slow because the electronic system is not going as fast as it should," Doria Barnes, political liaison officer in the South Central St. Catherine constituency, told The Gleaner yesterday.
Inside the polling station was a chaotic scene and the military had to intervene to get unruly voters to form a queue.
People haffi vote
"Manual up the ting!" one man yelled. "Because wi people haffi vote before 5:00," he added.
Meanwhile, voting also moved slowly at the José Marti High School in the same constituency.
"I have been waiting for a long time now, about one hour and the line nah move," said Georgia, a four-month pregnant woman.
"By di time mi done, dis yah pickney yah must born," she added.
Glenworth Walters, supervisor for one of the clusters at the polling station, told The Gleaner that there were some glitches with the EIVBIS. He, however, noted that the manual system would be used if there were further problems.
