Voting incident free in West Portland

Voting has been progressing with only minor delays in the crucial West Portland by-election.



Three candidates are running in the highly anticipated event.



Daryl Vaz is running for the JLP, Kenneth Rowe for the PNP and independent candidate Ras Astor Black for the Jamaica Alliance Movement.



The by-election follows a ruling by the Court that Vaz was not eligible to remain in Parliament because he was an American at the time of his nomination in 2007.



Since the last election Mr Vaz has given up his US citizenship.



Director of Elections Orette Fisher said he’s satisfied with the voter turn out so far.



However, he says in some cases there have been delays in getting the elderly to vote.



He said some elderly and sick persons have been taking as long as 15 minutes to vote and poll clerks have been assisting as best as possible.



Some 18,723 electors are registered to vote in 99 polling divisions in West Portland.



Meanwhile, at least one voter is complaining about the delays caused by the electronic voter identification and ballot issuing system.



The voter who called Perkins Online a short while ago said she had to stand in line at the Buff Bay polling station for several hours before she was able to cast her vote.



For hourly updates on the West Portland by-elections check out the haveyoursay blog at www.gleanerblogs.com



See Pictures of the West Portland By-election