KINGSTON, Jamaica — Removal of polling stations in the 63 constituencies being contested on Thursday could not be accommodated at this time.

According to Electoral Commission of Jamaica’s (ECJ) commissioner, Tom Tavares Finson, the process is a lengthy one involving all stakeholders, including the ECJ, the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ), the security forces, the political parties and the candidates.

“It is subject to agreement between all the parties and has to be ultimately signed off on by the ECJ, and there is no chance of moving any of the polling stations at this point in time,” Tavares Finson, a JLP nominated member of the commission, said this morning.

Tavares Finson was responding to reports that the People’s National Party (PNP) has been seeking to have polling at the Gregory Park Primary School shifted to another location, as some residents of the area of Portmore Villa known as ‘Gulf’ have been complaining about travelling to Gregory Park.

The PNP candidate for East Central St Catherine is Arnaldo Brown, who won the seat in 2011 defeating the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) Camille Buchanan by 5,734 to 5,176 votes.

 His challenger, Alando Terrelonge, has accused the PNP constituency machinery of making a “desperate attempt to hold democracy hostage (in the constituency) and mar the political process”.

Terrelonge also claimed that it is his supporters in ‘Gulf’ who have been threatened not to vote on Thursday, and who are being forced to disguise their political activities for fear of their lives.

Terrelone said that people aligned to the PNP have destroyed approximately five of his billboards. However, he said that he has urged his supporters to keep calm.

Balford Henry