George Henry, Gleaner Writer

The Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) Michael Stern, as expected, is once again member of parliament (MP) for North West Clarendon.

Stern, who was ousted from the seat by the courts for having had dual citizenship, earned 5,572 votes for the JLP in an election which saw just 26.1 per cent of voters turn out.

The National Democratic Movement (NDM), which took the opportunity to run, earned 381 votes through its candidate Eton Williams.

Voting was slow yesterday, as election-day workers, outdoor agents and members of the security forces outnumbered voters throughout the day at the various voting centres up to 4:30 in the afternoon.

Supporters confident

Despite the apparently small voter turnout, JLP supporters in the vicinity of the voting centres were confident.

One such optimist, Curtis Nelson, said the low voter turnout was attributed to the fact that constituents, well-known as farmers, were preparing produce for two market days on the weekend.

He also disclosed that the process was slow because most voters were expecting the JLP candidate to be returned as MP and so many did not bother.

NDM candidate Eton Williams was not known to voters in the constituency and so not many persons were expected to give him their vote.

Slow voting

As the afternoon progressed, it became apparent that voting would continue to be slow.

The Gleaner also caught up with the returning officer of North West Clarendon, Cecil Peters, who was on his way to the counting centre at the Frankfield Primary School. He reported that all went well at the various polling centres.

Peters also reported that he had no report of any incidents happening anywhere in the constituency and he praised the effort of the Electoral Office of Jamaica workers, members of the security forces and one-day police.

There was a $16-million budget for the by-election.