Reading Time: 3 minutes

There can be little doubt that the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) made a complete mess of delivering the results of last Monday’s local election.

It turned out to be a fiasco that has led to confusion and ambiguity. To date, it is difficult to determine which party won, with both the JLP and PNP claiming victory.

With a voter turnout of less than 30 per cent, it is hard to fathom the results. It has taken an incredible five days to come in and even then it remains inconclusive.

Somehow it is hard to conceive that such a cock-up could take place if Danville Walker was running the show. He was never a man that one could point the finger of ineptitude at without him firing back.

Less than 650,000 people voted and these results should have been delivered in a few hours after the ballot boxes were closed.

As usual in Jamaica there was very little regard for the media who was unable to disseminate reliable information to the country in a timely fashion.

One media house paid to get the results in real time and was looking for an edge over its competitors only to be disappointed. Cliff Hughes’ Nationwide called it prematurely for the PNP based on the information provided to date and got lambasted. It now turns out he never was afforded the true picture in making his determination.

Perhaps the PNP’s leader taking his cue from Cliff Hughes, declared his party the winner and dedicated the victory to Portia Simpson Miller.

Late on Monday evening, a sombre Prime Minister Andrew Holness made it known that he was pleased with the performance and that the JLP had secured more parishes.

What was clear was that the EOJ had not completed its job.

Tuesday rolled around and still no decision.

All concerned became anxious and the finger was being pointed at Director of Elections Glasspole Brown.

Some at the EOJ are blaming the telecommunication service providers with whom they partnered with and are expecting a full report as to this embarrassing situation.

The EOJ didn’t cover itself with glory here and the delays served to heighten tensions.

In the era of Donald Trump, everyone now seems to want to take a bombastic approach and throw accusations out at their competitors. Everyone is quick to draw for the “shady, rigged” card.

With the EOJ not being efficient and assertive, you had both parties declaring victory despite the EOJ saying that preliminary results estimated that the JLP won seven of the municipal corporations, with the PNP bagging four with two tied, including Kingston & St Andrew.

If Jamaicans ae so mistrustful of and indifferent to the political process in Jamaica, the EOJ’s performance was yet another clear indication why that is so. The EOJ did not acquit itself well at the 17th local government elections, and will have to do far better at the next general election expected to be held next year.

It must now go away and review and examine why it failed so abjectly and must put in place measures that prevents this fiasco from happening again. At the end of the day it did not provide accurate information in a timely fashion and its operations here were inchoate.

Look, at the end of the day, what should have taken not more than five hours to declare took five days – that’s the reality and that’s not good enough.

Last Friday, the EOJ confirmed that the JLP had won the 2024 Local Government Election with the JLP winning 7 municipal corporations and the PNP now with 6. The PNP won 115 divisions while the JLP won 113 divisions. The PNP secured 326,238 votes, whereas the JLP got 300,696 votes.

So, the PNP won more votes, more seats, fewer parishes and has the same number of mayors.

Yes, they have gained ground and the JLP has some work to do before the next General Election.

Who really needs to get its act together next time around is the EOJ.