CVM News At 7PM | CVM TV | August 31, 2025

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57% Turnout for Special Services Voting

The Electoral Office of Jamaica, EOJ, has completed the sorting of ballots cast by special services electors for the general election and local government by-elections.

Police, military, and election day workers voted on Friday, August 29. The exercise revealed that 25,938 special services electors cast their ballots — representing a voter turnout of 57 percent for the general election.

A total of 45,455 electors were eligible to vote. For the by-elections in the electoral divisions of Chancery Hall, Olympic Gardens, and Denham Town, the overall voter turnout was 50 percent.

While the EOJ has determined the number of ballots received, the envelopes remain sealed and secured in vaults. The ballots will not be opened until counting begins on election day.

They will be transferred to returning officers for the respective constituencies and deposited at pre-determined polling stations on September 3, to be counted alongside the ballots cast on election day.

In the 2016 and 2020 general elections, special services voting recorded turnouts of 63 percent and 56 percent respectively.

PNP Says First Voter Turnout Numbers Favour the Party

Opposition Leader Mark Golding has weighed in on the initial turnout figures, saying the numbers suggest the People’s National Party is in a strong position.

Golding, who has led the party since November 2020, says efforts to strengthen the organization are paying off, declaring, “We have done the work, energized the party base and the election machinery.”

JLP Demands Proof of Golding’s Renunciation of UK Citizenship

Meanwhile, the Jamaica Labour Party is renewing calls for Mark Golding to provide proof that he has renounced his United Kingdom citizenship.

The governing party says Golding has yet to produce a valid birth certificate and official documentation confirming his renunciation.

The issue has surfaced repeatedly during the campaign, as both parties seek to cast themselves as more committed to Jamaica’s sovereignty and development.

More in this report from Damien Phillips.