The nation’s democracy is in danger, thus former prime minister PJ Patterson is urging a careful examination of possible solutions to address the indifference that has greeted the most recent national elections.
In a recent, exclusive interview with the Jamaica Observer a local paper, Patterson said, “It must be of concern when we see declining voter turnout. It should be something of concern to both [major] political parties, and indeed to the entire country, because we are failing to convert into actual meaning something [universal adult suffrage] that is so fundamental to our progress as a country.”
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Although Patterson acknowledges that other concerns need to be addressed, he believes that the narrowing ideological gap between the People’s National Party (PNP) and the Jamaica Labor Party (JLP) may contribute to the decline in interest in voting in national elections.
Patterson remarked, “More and more people feel it doesn’t matter how I vote, my life is not going to change and there is a level of individual materialism that no matter what, no matter which government is in power, I’m going to be alright.”
Allegedly, an insufficient number of Jamaicans are aware that the victory for universal adult suffrage in November 1944 meant that all adults in Jamaica would now be eligible to vote in the country’s elections for the first time.
Patterson expresses how disconnected the people are from their history which would have aided in garnering a character that craves a sense of purpose and a drive to success, “We are not being taught enough about ourselves, who we are, the struggles we have undertaken, and really giving some sense of purpose and, I would almost say, of value.”
87 percent of voters cast ballots in the 1980 General Election, which was an ideological contest between the right-leaning JLP and the left-leaning PNP, which was in power.
Being that there has been a consistent decrease in the number of Jamaicans casting ballots; the turnout for the 2020 general election was 37%, the lowest since 1983, the year the PNP abstained from polling.
Even more concerningly, just 30% of voters cast ballots in the local government elections held before that in 2016.
This year, 29.6% of voters participated in the local government elections that took place on February 26.
