House amends bills to tighten voting rules
May 31, 2007
PARLIAMENT on Tuesday amended the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation Act, the Representation of the People Act and the Parish Councils Act, as part of efforts to stamp out fraudulent practices in local government and general elections.
Under the amended bills, physically incapacitated voters will have the same safeguards with respect to the secrecy of the vote as now applies to blind voters. The amendments also increase the average number of electors in each polling division from 300 to 400, and requires that a political party must gain at least five per cent of the seats in the House of Representatives to be able to appoint election scrutineers at public expense.
Dr Peter Phillips, the leader of government business and minister of national security, who piloted the bills, said the adjustments were in keeping with recommendations made by the then Electoral Advisory Committee in April of 2006 calling for several reforms before any future elections to improve the efficiency and security of the taking of the polls.
"We considered the report made by the committee, now the commission, and we approved it without any alteration. The Bills reflect the recommended changes," Phillips told the House.
However, Phillips said the amendment to prohibit open voting and making it an offence for an elector to intentionally display his ballot paper so as to make known the person he will be voting for or against was probably the most important of the proposed amendments.
"The mischief this amendment seeks to remedy is twofold; it seeks to prevent the intimidation of potential voters who may be imposed upon to openly display their ballot in circumstances where failure to do so may result in violence being perpetrated against that voter; and to prevent fraud and bribery where a person's vote will be sold and monies paid over on the condition that a ballot is displayed as confirmation that a voter has voted in a particular manner," Phillips said.
According to the House leader, open voting "compromises the basic provisions of the constitution where a person is entitled to vote and to cast their ballot in secret and to freely elect the candidate of their choice".
He added: "This pattern that has developed in some places linked to intimidation, sometimes to fraud, constitutes a blemish on our electoral system."
Phillips further called on politicians to conduct the debate on the electoral process in a manner that did not "incite violence". He said while all members might have acted contrary to this in the past, it was hoped that a change will be seen in the future....
Author: Alicia Dunkley
Source: Jamaica Observer
