PNP's Campbell criticised for comments about scrutinising voter ID cards

By: Admin

Image caption: PNP General Secretary Dr. Dayton Campbell

General Secretary of the People's National Party (PNP), Dr. Dayton Campbell, is being criticised for saying the party will arm its indoor agents with integrity lamps to scrutinise voter ID cards. 

Dr. Campbell, who is a commissioner on the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ), told a party meeting on Sunday that he has armed party workers with integrity lamps to detect voter fraud at the September 3 polls.

"They know that they can't win this fair and square, and so they're going to come with all sorts of chikines. Well, I have taken a decision and we have bought integrity lamps for every single constituency so that we aguh train our indoor agent. Tek up your integrity lamp, look pon di voter ID, look fi di security mark. Every single constituency that the PNP is putting up a candidate has been given their integrity lamp so they can look at the ID to make sure that the necessary security features are there. And if you see somebody come inna di polling station, and you know to God seh weh him seh him name, anuh him name suh, wi aguh bawl out!" he told supporters. 

Dr. Campbell also called for the police to arrest those involved in voter fraud. 

But the ECJ said, by law, only specified equipment is allowed within the vicinity of polling stations and under the control of the presiding officer.

The ECJ emphasised that only the presiding officer appointed by the Electoral Commission of Jamaica is authorised to verify voter identification cards. It said no other person, including indoor agents, has the authority to carry out this verification. 

Furthermore, the ECJ stressed that no integrity lamp outside of the official equipment issued by the Electoral Office of Jamaica will be used in the polling station during the verification process. 

Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) representative on the Electoral Commission of Jamaica, Tom Tavares-Finson, has accused the PNP General Secretary of seeking to sow discord at the polls with his integrity lamp comments. 

"Of course, Dr. Campbell, as a member of the Electoral Commission, should know better than this. No worker, PNP or JLP, would be entitled to walk into a polling station with an integrity lamp. There is only one integrity lamp in the polling station. It is provided by the Electoral Office of Jamaica and is operated by the presiding officer. Clearly, Campbell's statement is meant only to sow discord and misinformation amongst the potential voters of the country. It ought to be ignored," he stressed. 

Meanwhile, electors who have not yet collected their renewed voter ID card from the EOJ constituency office are encouraged to do so before election day. 

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