Waging Peace:  Jamaica

Monitoring Elections

Jamaica's Electoral Advisory Committee twice has invited The Carter Center to observe its elections, hoping to deter election-related violence and raise confidence in the electoral process. Jamaica's elections in the 1980s were fraught with widespread violence; the outbreak of violence during the 1980 election killed more than 800 people. In 1997, the first time Jamaica invited international observers, and again in 2002, election-related violence in the "garrison" communities controlled by politically related armed gangs was a concern. Yet, with the presence of observers, both the 1997 and 2002 elections were relatively peaceful.

2002 Elections
The Center praised the 2002 Jamaica electoral process, noting that Jamaicans' confidence in their election was bolstered by the professionalism of the security forces and the Electoral Office of Jamaica. Other contributing factors to a peaceful election were the institution of the Elections Center, which allowed for the immediate resolution of disputes, and the consultative process used to verify the voters list, determine the location of polling stations, and select poll workers.

The Carter Center delegation of 60 observers, led by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former Costa Rica President Miguel Angel Rodriguez, visited more than 850 polling stations in 29 constituencies.

1997 Elections
The Center also sent 60 observers to the 1997 elections. The delegation was led by President Carter, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Colin Powell, champion boxer Evander Holyfield, former Belize Prime Minister George Price, former Costa Rica President Rodrigo Carazo, and former Bolivia President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada. Delegates visited 52 of Jamaica's 60 constituencies and noted reports of small-scale violence. They also noted theft of several ballot boxes and voters unable to cast ballots because their names were missing from registration lists.

Based on assessment missions before, during, and after the 1997 election, the Center recommended that Jamaica's electoral process could be improved by: prosecuting "garrison" offenders to deter future violence, setting a deadline for printing and distributing voter ID cards, establishing a process for review of voter registration lists, and completing fingerprint cross matching.