Western Bureau:

Despite the promise by officials from both the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the opposition People's National Party (PNP) that they would be pulling out all the stops to bring out their supporters, voting was a slow and tedious process in yesterday's local government election in western Jamaica.

"Based on the reports coming out of the nine constituencies here in Region 3 (Hanover, Westmoreland, St. James and Trelawny), the voting has been quite low," said Rohan Porter, the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) supervisor for the region. "However, thankfully, we have had no incidents to report."

At most polling stations, election day workers outnumbered voters.

"It has been like this all day," said EOJ Supervisor Sharon Walker-Frater at the Mt. Salem Primary and Junior High School in St. James. "It started out quiet and got even slower as the day progressed."

Vote buying

The only incident of note across the region occurred in the Granville division, where the JLP's campaign organiser Grantley Miller accused PNP officials of vote buying, claiming that a number of his party supporters were being offered money to switch sides.

When incumbent PNP councillor for the division, Michael Troupe, was told of the JLP's claim, he flatly rejected the claim, labelling it mischievous. However, he countered by saying that at least five persons in JLP shirts had turned up at a polling station with fake national identification cards but were foiled in their bid to deceive electoral workers.

In the Myersville division, in St. Elizabeth, the anticipated fireworks in the aftermath of the recent decision by the PNP to expel sitting councillor Winston Sinclair, who won on their ticket in 2003 but has decided to go independent after being bypassed this time around, never materialised.

"There were absolutely no problems," an electoral worker told The Gleaner. "Those who decided to vote came in peace, did their thing and left in peace."