Durrant Pate/Contributor

Voting for new members of the Global Jamaica Diaspora Council (GJDC) is currently underway, but the process is suffering from low voter-registration, which is fast threatening to compromise the polls, which are to select seven Council members and seven Youth Council positions.

Despite calls for a postponement of the elections for the seven GJDC seats and seven Youth Council positions by many concerned influential Jamaicans in the Diaspora, the Government, through its State Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Alando Terrelonge, is insisting that the polls take place, as scheduled. Voting began on January 28 and will conclude on February 20.

A total of 44 candidates across the US and Canada are contesting for positions on the GJDC. Jamaicans living in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom are eligible to vote, but several diaspora leaders are expressing disappointment with the low voter registration turnout thus far. A review of the numbers shows that as of yesterday, Monday, February 9, 2026, a total of 1,767 Jamaicans across the three regions are registered to vote in the elections. 

• US Northeast: 504 registered
• US Southern region: 574 registered 
• US West/Midwest: 134 registered 
• Canada: 469 registered 
• UK South: 27 registered
• UK North: 63 registered

Reasons for registration apathy

The current representative for US Northeast Region, Michelle Tulloch-Neil, was hopeful of a significantly higher turnout, expressing disappointment with the low registration thus far, saying, “they (Jamaicans in the Diaspora) said they did not trust the system and were reluctant to provide their personal data, as required to be registered to vote. They did not feel that their data would be kept safe.” 

She told the New York Carib News that some individuals had asked whether they could submit their identification documents directly to the Jamaican Consulate in New York rather than uploading them online. Neil-Tulloch believe these concerns must be addressed, explaining she had spoken with and written to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade regarding the issues.

“People were required to provide sensitive information, including photo identification and they did not feel secure providing that information,” she emphasised. Dr Z Roy Davidson, a candidate in the US West/Midwest Region, reported that she has personally spoken with some 1,000 people, encouraging them to register. However, Dr Davidson admitted to encountering strong resistance due to similar data privacy concerns. 

Carib News spoke with two other individuals about the registration process, one who completed registration and another who began but did not finish. They both expressed unease about the safety of their personal information.

Terrelonge’s tone too combative

In today’s editorial of the Jamaica Observer, one of the island two daily newspaper, the publication called out the Junior Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister declaring that his “combative tone on Diaspora not helpful at this time,” contending that “if Jamaica never before needed its Diaspora, she does now, at a time when rebuilding the country from the battering of Hurricane Melissa last October 28. This is a priority no well-thinking Jamaican will contest.”

Arguing that the newspaper is somewhat perplexed by the combative tone taken by Minister Terrelonge in his response to voices in the Diaspora, which have been calling for a boycott of the elections now underway. 

According to the publication, “We expect that, as a seasoned diplomat would do, Terrelonge, who heads the council, would seek to de-escalate a potential brouhaha in the Diaspora, instead of, as he seems to be doing, pouring kerosene oil on a simmering dispute. While diverse views are healthy for democratic governance, it is deeply concerning when attempts are made to disrupt or discredit a legitimate and transparent process through mischief, misinformation, and propaganda.