KINGSTON, Jamaica; The final counting of votes for the Local Government Elections begins today, November 29 at designated counting centres island-wide. The Electoral Office of Jamaica is reporting a 30 percent voter turnout for the November 28 polls which took place in 7,050 polling stations across the island.

Director of Elections Orrette Fisher is satisfied with the counting process so far.

“The final tallying of votes for the 228 Electoral Divisions and the mayor of Portmore began this morning and has been progressing smoothly in the counting centres. There have been no reports of any disruptions and we expect this to continue over the next few days of counting,” he said.

The public will be updated once the final counts have been declared.

At the final count, the Returning Officer opens the sealed ballot boxes in the presence of the candidates or their representatives and counts the votes, allowing the candidates and their agents to view the ballots. The Returning Officer by law is able to overrule the decision of the Presiding Officer and can, for example, accept as valid a ballot previously rejected by the Presiding Officer. When this is complete the Retuning Officer will confirm the number of votes validly cast for each candidate and declare the winning candidate.

Magisterial Recount
Under the law, candidates can request a magisterial recount of the votes within four days after the Returning Officer has declared a candidate elected. The Magistrate’s decision is final.