Director of Elections, Glasspole Brown, says systems are in place at the Electoral Commission of Jamaica, ECJ, to thwart attempts at gerrymandering by a political party.
Gerrymandering occurs when a political party manipulates the boundaries of a constituency or electoral division to give itself an unfair advantage.
This is usually achieved by ensuring the majority of voters who are likely to vote for a particular party are zoned into one area.
He made the comment while addressing concerns that should Portmore become Jamaica’s 15th parish, its constituencies would be gerrymandered to the benefit of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party, JLP.
Mr. Brown says while the ECJ has control over the constituency boundaries, it does not control where parish boundaries are drawn.
He says were Portmore to become a parish, it’s likely changes would have to be made to the boundaries of the constituency of Southern St. Catherine.
Meanwhile, Mr. Brown says the Electoral Office of Jamaica is far advanced with plans for the staging of the next Local Government Elections.
The Local Government Elections are due by February 2024. Mr. Brown says the EOJ will be ready.
Glasspole Brown, Director of Elections. He was speaking on Nationwide This Morning on Friday.
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