KINGSTON, Jamaica; Election Day workers, Police and military personnel will go to polls on Monday, August 31, three days before the rest of the population, who are scheduled to vote on September 3.

A total of 31,084 Election Day workers, 11,512 police officers, and 4,181 soldiers will cast their vote between 8:00 am and 4:00 pm. Voting will take place across the island in 169 locations for the Election Day Workers and 28 locations for the  police and military.

Under the Representation of the People Act, provisions are made for military and police personnel, as well as Election Day workers, to vote three days before the rest of the population, to ensure that they are available for duty on Election Day.

The names of all selected Election Day workers, police and military personnel have been separated from the Official Voters List to be used on Election Day.  The security forces personnel will vote at the voting location closest to where they are based. The ballots will later be sorted and transferred to the respective Returning Officers to be counted on September 3.

All special services electors are reminded to wear a mask, sanitize their hands and observe physical distancing guidelines at the polling stations. The EOJ has engaged approximately 7,400 sanitization clerks and cleaner attendants to sanitize electors’ hands at the polling location and to frequently clean furniture, bathrooms and high-touch areas.

Inside the polling station, the Presiding Officer will issue the ballot to the elector along with a pencil and direct him/her to the voting booth. That is, instead of the usual pencil attached to the voting booth and used by all electors, each elector will be given an individual pencil that is sanitized before and after use.

After marking the ballot, the elector will return it to the Presiding Officer and place the ‘used pencil’ into a special container on the Presiding Officer’s table. ‘Used pencils’ will be removed at regular intervals and sanitized. The elector’s hands will then be sanitized before immersing his/her right index finger in the electoral ink.

Presiding Officers and Poll Clerks will sanitize after each encounter with an elector and as otherwise necessary.

Director of Elections, Glasspole Brown cautions the special services electors that they can only vote on August 31.

“Police, Military and Election Day workers who wish to vote must do so on August 31. They will not be able to vote on September 3, as their names will not be on the Official Voters’ List used on September 3,” Mr. Brown said.

He adds that Election Day workers will be notified via text message of the date, location and polling station in which they will cast their votes.

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