Centenarian Donovan Maxwell says Jamaicans today need to embrace and better exercise their right to vote, as only a privileged few could do so when he was growing up.

Maxwell, who spoke to Our Today at Mona High School in the Eastern St Andrew Constituency, where he went to cast his vote for Jamaica Labour Party candidate Fayval Williams, said only Jamaicans who owned land could vote when he was growing up.

Jamaica has experienced a decline in voter turnout over several general election cycles. In Wednesday’s election, the turnout was 39.5 per cent. The general election of 2020 saw an approximately 37 per cent turnout, compared to 48.37 per cent in 2016. The 2011 election saw a voter turnout of 52.76 per cent.

Born in 1925, Maxwell was in an era when ordinary Jamaicans were not privileged to vote. At that point in Jamaica, only white males could vote. Then, things changed, and landowners could vote. Then, in 1944, universal adult suffrage was established, allowing all Jamaican adults, regardless of land ownership or tax payment, to vote.

Maxwell, the father of renowned football coach Geoffrey Maxwell, who passed away this year, said: “I am not going to any doctor, I don’t have any nurse, so I am in a condition that I appreciate coming here and putting in my vote without any problems.

“I cannot appreciate or understand those people because voting is simple, it’s not like it’s work. So, it shouldn’t be difficult to get up, answer a few questions and make your mark and go home,” he pointed out.

“It is easy, simple, and you can meet some nice people sometimes or most of the time,” Maxwell said.

“Up to about 1933, if you weren’t a landowner, you couldn’t vote, so you know how many voted. They should come out and vote. You have some loud-mouth people, and you don’t know for sure what they will do,” he pointed out.

And he was not shy about divulging who he voted for and why.

“I can tell you. My vote is for the bell. My main reason is that, in the early days, I would have voted for Bustamante, although Norman Manley was more attractive in his speech and his attire, and I used to see him every day at lunch,” said Maxwell.

“But you must know where you going. The big boys had the advantage. Today, things are equal now; any side can win. That’s why people must come out and vote because that’s the only way you can win,” he concluded.