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Virgin voters

Published:Friday | December 30, 2011 | 12:00 AM

I'm a 34-year-old first-time voter in East St Andrew
constituency at Jamaica College. Very proud of my purple finger! Great
experience voting at 3 p.m. No lines, clear instructions from the poll workers,
pleasant party supporters. Wish everything in Jamaica was this
orderly.

- Damian Tomlin,
damiantomlin@yahoo.com

Noting the probability of an
election before the close of 2011, I moved to ensure that I would be in a
position, if I chose, to participate in the democratic
process.

My experience as a first-time voter was a smooth
one, after having waited in line for approximately an hour. Like most novel
experiences, there was a bit of adrenaline as I approached the head of the
line. All in all, my first time voting was a pleasant
one.

- Fabian E. Sanchez,
emelio12@hotmail.com

I am a 30-year-old virgin
voter. I got a chance to see both parties and now know clearly which party to
vote for.

The process was quite smooth. I went at 11:15 a.m.
Not many persons were there, although it took a while because some persons did
not have their national identification card, so their identity had to be
verified.

While waiting in line, I was very nervous. I was
there wondering if I had decided to choose the correct candidate. Then I was wondering
if I would mess up when I got inside. However, all went
well.

But guess what? The presiding officer forgot to let me
put my finger in the ink, and this being my first time, I didn't even think of
it. However, he called me back.

-
Sharline Smith

Well, after a long and vigorous
search for my voter's ID, I still left empty-handed! This, however, would not
deter me, as I was adamant to cast my vote this time!

I left
home fairly early and went to one polling station. My name was missing, so I
headed to the other.

I entered the room, declared that I had
no ID, had my name verified, proudly said the oath and did my
fingerprints!

Now was the moment (laugh). Butterflies fluttering,
I took my ballot and went, with shaking hands, to mark my first constitutional
X!

What a feeling of pride! Got in my car and posted my inked
finger on my BBM page!

Oh, what a feeling. I'm proud to be
Jamaican!

- Sandra Scott,
Sandra.Scott@time4lime.com

Upon arriving at the
polling station, I was bombarded by a lot of people, both in green and orange,
asking me about some polling division info. I had no clue about what they were
talking about, so I got a bit confused, and said to them, 'I am okay,' because
I wasn't sure what they were up to.

Then a man in green shirt
started to argue with me. "I was like, 'OK, why bother?' So I turned
around and was about to leave when a lady came to me apologising for his
behaviour. I was then directed to my designated PD station. I was there from
7:20 a.m. and there were exactly four persons in front of me and I didn't get
through until 8:30 a.m.

-
Claudette Spooner, claudette_spooner@yahoo.com

As I
approached the polling station, I felt no sense of nervousness. I was confident
with my decision, candidate and party.

I felt proud to be
Jamaican, and that my vote would make a difference and would allow my
candidate, Mr Richard Azan of North Western Clarendon, in being closer to his
victory.

The process was very smooth and easy. In the end, I
stepped out feeling proud of exercising my democratic right. One adult, one
vote!

- Kamike Myers,
jody_1@live.co.uk

This election meant a lot for me
in terms of issues, and I wanted to be counted in making a
difference.

My experience as a first-time voter was great. I
arrived at my polling station in Tucker at approximately 9:15 a.m. and produced
my voter's ID.

I was then sent inside to cast my vote. There
I waited less than a minute, as there was someone ahead of me. The whole
process took approximately three minutes to complete. It was very
painless.

I must commend the EOJ on the security
measures taken to ensure a free and fair
election.

- Maria Watson,
jamamachula@gmail.com

I am 28 years old and this is
my first voting experience.

I belong to the St Andrew Eastern
constituency and arrived at the United Theological College at approximately
2:15 p.m. There were obvious signs of security presence, as well as supporters
of the two major parties.

An official asked my name, checked
for it on a list and directed me to polling division 74. The room housed four
female officers.

I was asked for my ID, and it was checked
against a list. I went to a booth, made the mark as instructed and went back to
the officer with my folded paper.

It's interesting how
something that important took less than 10
minutes.