#JaVotes2020 | Social distance yes, but slow pace turns away voters

Andre Williams/Gleaner Writer

Voters at the St Margaret's Church in the Mona division of the St Andrew Eastern constituency were practising social distancing; however, it was the slow pace of the voting process that frustrated some voters into leaving without casting a ballot.

At 7:48 a.m., lines had extended from the church doors to the gate, about 70 metres away.

The compound houses polling divisions 9, 8, 12, and 23.

Nadine Shaw expressed satisfaction at the level of social distancing she witnessed.

Shaw said, “They are six feet apart, and I like that. My only issue is the slow pace and standing in the sun.”

A disgruntled elderly supporter, who did not provide her name, said she was leaving because she was at the location for an hour and was still unable to get inside.

“This is foolishness. I can’t be standing so long and this [line] not moving," the woman said.

Another elderly man told The Gleaner that he told some seniors who had called him enquiring about the location not to come.

He said, “This is foolishness; we need more polling stations. No movement here, so I told them not to come, and I am leaving.”

The seat is being contested by Venesha Phillips of the People’s National Party and Fayval Williams of the Jamaica Labour Party.

In the last general election, the incumbent Williams won the division with 4,301 votes, with Andre Hylton of the PNP managing 3,856 votes.

There was a 58.12 per cent voter turnout for the Mona division in 2016.