Minister Bunting Clarifies Position on Use of Voter Identification System

Minister of National Security, Hon. Peter Bunting, says the Government has no intention of changing the arrangements governing the use of the voter identification system.

The Minister gave the assurance, while speaking to journalists following the Jamaica House press briefing held at the Office of the Prime Minister on Wednesday, October 7.

He was responding to concerns raised in the public, following suggestions made at a recent meeting with the Hanover Lay Magistrates’ Association, that a national identification card should be developed for all adults, which would carry biographic and biometric data that could assist in crime fighting.

The Minister said that as part of his response to the suggestion, “I mentioned that we already have a system, which already very closely approximates that, which is the elector identification system.

“But I made it very clear then that it was not possible to use that for criminal investigation purposes, because of commitments that were made at the time that fingerprinting of voters was introduced,” he stated.

In a statement issued by the Security Ministry, Mr. Bunting also pointed out that this commitment could not be changed unilaterally by any Administration, notwithstanding that access to such a system would be helpful to criminal investigations.