EOJ Appeals for Patience and Cooperation

The Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) is appealing to electors for patience and cooperation as they process requests for letters of identity and the renewal of voter identification (ID) cards and their distribution.

“We have noticed, with concern, the long lines at our offices and we just want to appeal to our electors to be patient at this time as we try our very best to process your requests efficiently and in a timely manner. We know that it is a service that we are providing to our nation, and we have made that commitment to provide the service to you, so we ask that you bear with us as we try to provide that service as efficiently as possible,” said Public Education Officer at the EOJ, Daynia Harper, at a JIS ‘Think Tank’ on Friday, January 14.

“We have a numbering system in our offices and we ask that you adhere to the protocols and guidelines we have by using the number assigned to you. We ask for your cooperation with our staff and we also ask that you remember the COVID-19 protocols and that you adhere to them as best as possible, not only for the safety of our staff at the EOJ but also for yourselves,” Ms. Harper added.

Noting the frustration of the public in the wait time for the collection of letters of identity, which was previously a same-day service offered out of the EOJ’s Head Office on Duke Street, she said the EOJ has implemented changes to the service to reduce the wait time at the location.

“Effective the 13th of January, we have made some changes to that processing time, so it is now a next-day service. What we ask electors to do is to visit the office, make the request and you come back the following day to collect the letter. That is something we hope will alleviate a lot of the crowding at our offices,” Ms. Harper said.

Letters of identity requested at constituency offices should be ready two to three business days after the request was made, as the letters are printed at the EOJ Head Office and the next-day service is only available there.

The EOJ has also implemented several strategies in anticipation of electors gathering at the EOJ offices to renew expired voter ID cards and collect their new cards.

Meanwhile, Deputy Director of Elections with responsibility for Field Operations, Earl Simpson, said the agency has looked at some issues.

“We recognised that some of our offices do not have the space to process the number of electors that are coming there, and we have sought to take the distribution to another location in order to lessen the crowd. We have also taken on additional staff to process the electors. Where space is available, we have created a new area or desk to deal with letters of identity or for renewal which is something we are seeing a lot of since the beginning of the year,” he added.

In addition to taking on new staff, the EOJ has reassigned staff temporarily to help process the volume of electors and their requests per day at the EOJ Head Office.

Leading up to the end of 2021 when the previous voter ID cards expired, the EOJ was opened on selected Saturdays and even took the renewal and distribution process into communities to facilitate as many electors as possible.

“We are making arrangements and plans to restart, where we will identify areas within respective constituencies and then we will take the distribution of the cards and the renewal process closer to the electors in those communities, and that is something we are planning to commence in a short while,” Mr. Simpson said.

He also reiterated the appeal for the public to cooperate with the EOJ staff when they visit any of the EOJ offices to conduct business.

“What we are asking the electors to do is to cooperate with the staff at the respective constituency offices, listen to the instructions of the staff and obey and observe the COVID-19 sanitising and social-distancing protocols. You will get your letter, as long as you make the request and provide us with the information that is required,” Mr. Simpson said.

EOJ offices are open Mondays to Thursdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Fridays 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

The public is being reminded of the alphabetical order, by surnames, for new voter ID collection.

Mondays are for surnames A-E; Tuesdays, surnames F-K; Wednesdays, surnames L-P; Thursdays, surnames Q-T; and Fridays, surnames U-Z.