Editorial | Same-day vote good idea

There might have been a bit of a muddle regarding the announcement of the proposed by-election for the Seivwright division for the capital’s municipal government. Nonetheless, this newspaper endorses the plan for filling all vacancies in the council at the same time Jamaicans vote for the national Parliament next month.

Indeed, it should go further than local government by-election. National parliamentary and municipal elections should, as this newspaper has suggested in the past, take place at the same time.

This would save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars on the management of elections, without any damage to democracy or the democratic process and would require only relatively minor amendments to the Representation of the People Act and the Local Governance Act, which governs the operations of municipal governments.

In disclosing the September 3 date for the general election on Sunday night, Prime Minister Andrew Holness also announced that by election would be held on the same day for four divisions in the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC): Chancery Hall; Olympic Gardens; Denham Town; and Seivwright Gardens.

These divisions are held by Prime Minister Dr Holness’ Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), which it is expected to retain, without changing the balance of power on the KSAMC, which is controlled by the People’s National Party (PNP) because of its hold on the chairmanship in the tied council, having won the popular vote in the 2024 municipal elections.

ONE PROBLEM

Except that there was one problem with Prime Minister Holness’ announcement, according to Andrew Swaby, the KSAMC chairman and mayor of Kingston, who had proposed holding by-elections for the corporation simultaneously with the national vote. Up to that point, Mr Swaby reported, he hadn’t received a letter of resignation from Delroy Williams, the member for the Seivwright division and deputy chairman of the KSAMC, who the JLP selected to contest the seat for the Central Clarendon constituency in the general election.

The implied argument, therefore, was that there was no vacancy for the Seivwright division, which then raises the question of if, or when, a by-election could, or can, be properly called for that division.

Section 31 of the Local Governance Act Says: “If any councillor in writing addressed to the chairperson of the council or, in the case of the chairperson, addressed to the council, resigns that councillor’s seat on the council, the seat becomes vacant when the resignation is received by the person to whom it is addressed or any person authorised to receive it by that person or body.”

In this case, Mr Williams’ resignation would presumably go to Mr Swaby or the KSAMC’s CEO, Robert Hill.

The law says that having received a resignation, the chairman or the council, depending on who has resigned, must “forthwith” inform the local government minister and the Electoral Commission of Jamaica and within seven days cause the resignation to be advertised in a daily newspaper.

However, Section 4 (5) (a) of the Eight Schedule of the Representation of the People Act, says that by-elections for municipal council should take place “a day within three months after the vacancy has been entered into the minutes of the council”.

The problem, according to Mr Swaby, is that the KSAMC, which holds monthly general meetings, is on recess until September, which makes recording Mr Williams’ resignation difficult in time to facilitate a by-election in his division. Presumably, the council could be recalled for an emergency session.

LEGAL ADVICE

Mr Swaby, though, says that he is taking legal advice on the whole matter, which, clearly, demands clarity. Which is why we look forward to an urgent opinion from the attorney general on the issue.

In any event, this entanglement won’t prevent Mr Williams from contesting the parliamentary election, as there are no legal constraints to doing so. It is just that a by-election for the Seivwright division would take place at a later date, if he wins.

While the current situation seems more than a trifle messy, The Gleaner holds to the larger principle of a coincidence between the general elections for municipal councils and the national Parliament and part of the move for a fixed date for elections.

This would require an adjustment to the Local Governance Act for the four-year cycle of municipal councils to coincide with the five-year life of the national Parliament, as well as strengthening the law to prevent governments, on a whim, as is too often the case, by simple legislative action, putting off local government elections.

Or better, this should be fixed in the Constitution, along with the fixed date for parliamentary polls, removing the ability of prime ministers to manipulate the date for parliamentary elections for narrow political or partisan ends.

It would also save money. For last year’s municipal election, the Government set aside J$1.6 billion in the national Budget. For next month’s vote, the amount is J$1.9 billion. Consolidation would create efficiencies.

Jamaica already has experience of the voters casting multiple ballots in the same election. Residents of Portmore cast ballots for their directly elected mayor at the same time that they separately voted for members of their municipal council and their representatives in the St Catherine Municipal Corporation.