EOJ, CAFFE finalising preparations for polls
Published:Wednesday | August 13, 2025 | 12:11 AM
The Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) says by the end of this week, it will have all the personnel in place to conduct the September 3 general elction, for which nomination day is next Monday.
The EOJ said it was fairly advanced in its recruitment and training of election day workers and is making preparations for nomination day activities.
“The preparations should be complete by later this week, and all the nomination centres will be opened on time, and support staff will be in place to carry out the exercise,” said Director of Elections Glasspole Brown.
He is also making another appeal to electors who have not yet picked up their new identification cards to do so as quickly as possible.
He said when electors present their identification cards at the polling stations, it will allow the EOJ to move the voting process apace.
At the same time, election watchdog Citizens Action for Free and Fair Elections (CAFFE) is on the final leg of putting together its team that will monitor the polls.
The group has recruited 700 volunteers to be deployed indoors at the polling stations and to rove on election day to ensure that the electoral process is proceeding smoothly at polling stations across the country.
Anton Thompson, deputy chairman of CAFFE, said the group would also be monitoring nomination day activities on August 18.
He said volunteers are fully aware of their mandate, having received instructions through a training video. He said persons recruited to be part of CAFFE’s team have been assessed and tested before being considered to carry out volunteer work.
The election monitoring group will also deploy volunteers at its data-collection centre to record information from the field.
He said CAFFE would also be placing the spotlight on one or two constituencies where there has been political tension.
“We do not have sufficient personnel to monitor campaign finance issues and things like that, which are matters of concern to us, but we will be keeping our eyes open for anything that has to do with the conduct of free and fair elections.”