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Reasons for not Voting
Only 2 persons had no reason for not voting. The reasons provided by the remaining 282 are displayed
in Chart 6. The overwhelming majority that expressed that they will vote provided some form of apathy
as their core reason. As many as 49 (mostly youth) expressed that unlike the mature “who knew when
the parties were very different philosophically,” they could not pick one over the other in terms of “how
they help young people.” Note that this group made up 17%. Nine percent (9%) of this group refused to
participate in Jamaican politics on the grounds of fear of violence. Of the 25 respondents in this group,
12 reported that family members and/or friends were killed in political wars in Jamaica. Note too that
7% of the group expressed that neither party leader was fit to lead the country. One of the most
revealing pieces of data on the plight of the JLP is the fact that 12 young persons from ‘die‐hard’ families
expressed “I know my party will lose.” When compared to the young people that will vote for the JLP in
the study (121) this group is a 10% loss. Half of this group (6) further expressed that “the JLP know they
cannot win in the state they are in but just there hustling – that is why everybody bring in their family,
rather than focus on how to win.”
49%
17%
11%
9%
7%
5%
2%
Chart 6: Reasons for not Voting in the 2016 General
Elections
No Interest in Jamaican
Politics (138)
Need a third party ‐ none
better (49)
Will not benefit me,
community or parish (26)
Hate Violent Jamaican
Politics (25)
Neither Portia nor
Andrew is Suitable (19)
My party cannot win (15
JLPs)
Travel plans (5)
6