All set for nomination exercises
Published:Wednesday | November 6, 2024 | 2:55 AM
Director of Elections Glasspole Brown says his office is ready to preside over today’s nomination of prospective candidates vying for two parliamentary seats and two municipal positions in by-elections on November 22.
With weather conditions expected to improve today as Tropical Storm Rafael moves further away from the island, Brown said his team has everything in place to carry out the nomination exercises.
Nominations will be open at 10 a.m. to fill vacant parliamentary seats in Trelawny Southern and St Andrew North Western, as well as two divisions – Morant Bay in St Thomas and Aenon Town in Clarendon.
The governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is expected to put forward Duane Smith in St Andrew North Western to succeed Dr Nigel Clarke.
In Trelawny Southern, the JLP is expected to field former Member of Parliament Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert, whose resignation in September 2023 caused the vacancy. She resigned after the Integrity Commission said she was facing eight criminal charges for making a false statement in her statutory declarations.
The commission said Dalrymple-Philibert had omitted a Mercedes-Benz motor vehicle from her filings between 2015 and 2021. However, she stated that the omission of the vehicle was a genuine oversight.
The former Trelawny Southern MP will return to court on December 6 when Parish Court Judge Leighton Morris will decide whether the Integrity Commission’s case against her should be thrown out or proceed to trial.
At the same time, the People’s National Party (PNP) has said it will not field candidates for parliamentary seats in by-elections less than a year before a general election is constitutionally due.
However, the party will contest the by-elections in the Morant Bay division in St Thomas and the Aenon Town division in Clarendon. The seats became vacant with the deaths of the PNP’s Rohan Bryan and the JLP’s Marjorie McLeod-McFarlane, for the respective divisions.
How to secure nomination
The Electoral Office of Jamaica’s (EOJ’s) nomination procedures state that any person wishing to contest the election is required to:
1. Fill out a nomination form signed by any 10 or more electors registered to vote in the constituency. This applies to persons vying for parliamentary seats. For municipalities, potential candidates are required to fill out nomination forms signed by any 10 or more electors registered to vote in the division.
2. Return the form to the returning officer between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
3. Pay the nomination fee of J$15,000 (for parliamentary election).
4. Pay the nomination fee of J$3,000 (for municipal election).