February 8 is Nomination Day for Local Government Elections
By: , February 8, 2024
Photo: Mark Bell
Director of Elections, Glasspole Brown.The Full Story
Today (February 8) is Nomination Day, where persons will have the opportunity to present themselves as candidates for the 2024 local government elections on February 26.
They will vie for seats as Councillors in the 228 electoral divisions across the island and for Mayor of the Municipality of Portmore.
Candidates may be nominated to represent any of the two major political parties –Jamaica Labour Party or the People’s National Party – any of the minor parties or as an independent candidate.
The 2024 local government elections will be the first since 2016.
At the time, nearly 500 candidates were nominated to represent various divisions, with only six per cent being independent candidates or members of the Marcus Garvey Political Party or the National Democratic Movement.
On Nomination Day, each candidate will be required to complete a nomination form signed by six or more qualified voters in the division in which they choose to run and return the form to the designated nomination centre between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
Candidates will be required to pay a $3,000.00 nomination fee.
The candidate should be a resident of the division for at least 12 months prior to election day and should not be in any contractual agreement with any member of the local authority involving the payment of money or land for their candidacy.
A candidate will not be eligible to be elected if he/she is under age 18, holds a public office, is a member of the Jamaica Defence Force or has been declared bankrupt.
Director of Elections, Glasspole Brown, told JIS News that all is in place and Nomination Day is expected to go smoothly.
“I am confident that our trained and experienced Returning Officers are prepared to efficiently execute nomination proceedings on Thursday. We hope that the day’s events will pave the way for successful local government elections,” he said.
Nomination forms for candidates and qualifications for the office of Councillor and Mayor are available on the Electoral Office of Jamaica website at www.ecj.com.jm.