JUST under 4,000 people have been recruited to carry out sanitisation activities across the 63 constituencies when Jamaicans go to the polls on September 3, as the Electoral Commission of Jamaica ramps up preparations amid the COVID-19 crisis.

Director of Elections Glasspole Brown told the Jamaica Observer that a sanitisation team will be put in place at each polling station to ensure that “electors wear masks, sanitise their hands, and to remind electors of the safety measures”.

He said the approximately 3,700 attendants engaged will also see to the regular cleaning and sanitisation of bathrooms, high-touch areas, equipment, and polling stations.

Brown said the group is among the close to 30,000 election day workers who will be involved in the election day process, including presiding officers, poll clerks, reserve workers, supervisors, polling station security assistants (one-day police), couriers, and so on.

Approximately 4,000 more election day workers have been recruited for the upcoming election when compared to the 2016 General Election, for which approximately 26,000 people were recruited and trained to work on election day.

A sum of $2.4 billion was set aside in the 2020-21 budget for the holding of the parliamentary and local government elections.

The director of elections also told the Observer that his office used the opportunity during training sessions to listen to the concerns of election day workers and to sensitise them about the protocols and safety measures that will be undertaken on election day, such as the provision of masks, sanitisers, gloves, and frequent cleaning and sanitisation.

According to Brown, “So far, the persons trained have not indicated any reservations with carrying out their duties on election day.”

“We have taken great care to ensure that the measures in place protect the health and safety of the election day workers and the voting public,” he said.

Addressing the concern that electors having to wait for extended periods to vote — a common complaint over the years — would be exacerbated amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the director of elections said: “We do not foresee any major delays in the processing time for electors. We will seek to ensure, as best as possible, that the process flows at a reasonable pace.

“We encourage electors not to turn up at polling stations in the early morning [as] we are accustomed to, but to stagger their visit throughout the day, bearing in mind that polling takes place from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm,” he said.

In responding to calls for dedicated queues for the elderly, who are particularly at risk for the virus, Brown said the elderly will be given priority on election day.

“As soon as elderly electors come to the polling station, we intend to usher them to the front of the line in order to reduce the waiting time,” the director of elections said.