KINGSTON, Jamaica – The names of 71,529 dead electors have been removed from the Voters’ List published on November 30, 2019. This represents the largest number of electors removed from the Voters’ List in recent times, compared to 31,262 in May 2013, 46,528 removed in June 2006 and 16,584 in November 2005. In the last five years, the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) has, on average, removed less than 5,000 dead electors per year.

At the same time, 24,016 persons were added to the Voters’ List bringing the total number of registered voters to 1,897,146. The May 31, 2019 Voters’ List was published with a total of 1,945,551 electors.

The significant increase in the removal of the names of electors who have died is attributed to the Dead Elector Removal Exercise which entered the second phase in March this year. Phase II is aimed at confirming reports of electors identified as deceased during house-to-house visits in the first phase and on an ongoing basis through information from several sources.

Glasspole Brown, Director of Elections, is pleased with the progress of the dead elector removal project so far.

“Our team has been working hard to identify and confirm the identity of dead electors on the Voters’ List and we are pleased with the results thus far. The last times we recorded any number remotely close to 71,000 is the dead elector removal exercise we conducted in 2012 and our reverification exercise from 2004 to 2006 so this is highest number of persons we have removed recently in any one registration phase. Our plan now is to continue the work to complete the project and to ensure we continuously improve on the number of dead electors we identify and remove each year,” he said.

Elector Registration Identification (Voter ID) Cards for electors added to the November 30 Voters’ List are scheduled to become available by mid-December and should be collected by electors at the EOJ office in the constituency where they live.

Meanwhile, the EOJ continues the renewal of Voter ID Cards. For renewal, electors with ID cards issued 2015 or before must visit an EOJ constituency office or ID Card Renewal Centre. Electors whose ID cards have issue dates in 2016 or after will automatically receive a new ID card at their constituency office once the cards are ready. The validity of current Voter ID cards has been extended until 2020.