UIC's Garth Barnett says mood in Kingston Central keeps some election workers away

United Independent Congress (UIC) candidate for Kingston Central, Garth Barnett, says "a bit of fear" has prevented some of his election day workers from coming out to support him.

He claimed that one person from a community he did not name indicated that they will no longer serve as his indoor agent at Kingston Technical High School because of "the mood existing in the community."

Barnett was speaking during an interview with The Star outside one of the eight polling stations at KTHS.

He said he could not provide an update on whether other UIC candidates have encountered any challenges "because I have not received any word from any other representatives."

At 11:00 a.m., Barnett had two outdoor and indoor workers at KTHS and at least two at five other polling stations across the constituency.

By comparison, the two main political parties each have, on average, teams of at least 15 outdoor and indoor workers.

Barnett described the mood in his camp as "a bit sombre," but said he is undaunted.

He believes there is "some amount" of support in the constituency for his candidacy.

"However, persons are not going to openly display the support because of what exists in the constituency," he said, making reference to the factions of the Jamaica Labour Party and the People's National Party supporters.

He noted, however, that in previous elections, the two parties combined have not secured 50 per cent of the eligible votes in the constituency.

In the 2020 general election, the JLP's Donovan Williams secured 4,568 votes to defeat the PNP's Imani Duncan Price by 303 votes, taking a constituency traditionally dominated by the PNP.

Forty-one per cent of eligible electors cast ballots in that election, according to official data from the Electoral Office of Jamaica.

There was a 44 per cent voter turnout in the constituency in the 2016 election when the PNP's Ronald Thwaites defeated the JLP's Robert Chin by over 1,000 votes.

Barnett said he is expecting "fair" support when voting ends at 5:00 p.m.

"I've done my best, I've done all I can with the resources at my disposal. So whatever happens on the day, I'm happy to take part in the process," he said.

- Livern Barrett

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