As the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) pushes itself to complete its hectic six-pronged agenda, it has decided that two of the three additional constituencies are to be placed in St Catherine.

Chairman of the ECJ, Professor Errol Miller, said yesterday that another announcement would be made on July 29, when the broad electoral picture will be presented to the nation in respect of all 63 constituencies.

Miller hinted during a press conference in New Kingston that the decision in respect of the other constituency has been made, but has been referred to the political parties for their approval before an announcement is made.

Commenting on whether there was any likelihood that any of the existing 60 seats would be surrendered to make way for other constituencies in other sections of the island, to bring the final number to 63, Miller would only reiterate that the final details would be unveiled month-end.

Outlining the formula that influenced the decision to place two additional seats in St Catherine, he said the nearly 1.5 million electors on the May 31 voters list were divided by 60 (the number of constituencies currently in the island). With the average number of voters in each constituency calculated at 23,543, he explained that the total number of electors was then taken in each parish and divided by the national average.

"And when you do that, St Catherine comes out with a number of 11 (constituencies) - it is a straight mathematical formula," he said. "At the moment, St Catherine has nine constituencies; it will now be increased to 11 constituencies."

Considering locations

Miller says the ECJ is currently working on the exact locations, in St Catherine, at which the two additional constituencies will be established.

The Constitution was amended by Parliament late last year to facilitate an increase in the upper limit of the number of constituencies to 65. However, it was agreed that the number of constituencies will initially be increased to 63.