First instance body dealing with electoral disputes

THE REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE ACT (1944-11-20)

PART III Electoral Procedure

23 Procedure at nomination

(1) At ten o'clock in the morning on nomination day the returning officer and the election clerk shall both attend at the place specified in the election notice under section 22 as the place for the nomination of candidates and shall there remain until two o'clock in the afternoon of the same day for the purpose of receiving the nominations of such candidates as the electors desire to nominate. After two o'clock in the afternoon on nomination day no further nominations shall be received.

 (2) Any ten or more electors qualified to vote in a constituency for which an election is to be held may nominate any person qualified to be a member of the House of Representatives as a candidate by signing a nomination paper in the form set out in the Second Schedule and causing such nomination paper to be handed to the returning officer between the hours referred to in subsection (1):

Provided that no candidate shall be deemed not to have been validly nominated by reason only of the fact that subsequent to nomination day any person by whom his nomination paper was signed is struck or any of the official lists for the relevant constituency.

 (3) Every nomination paper shall specify-

(a) such particulars of the name, address and occupation of the candidate as are sufficient to identify him; and

(b) his address for service of process and papers under this Act; and

(c) the name, address and occupation of his official agent (if any).

(4) Each candidate shall be nominated by a separate nomination paper.

(5) No nomination paper shall be valid or acted upon by the returning officer unless it is accompanied by-

(a) the consent in writing of the person therein nominated, except where such person is absent from the constituency in which the election is to be held, when such absence shall be stated in the nomination paper; and

(b) a deposit of three thousand dollars in legal tender.

(6) The returning officer shall not accept any deposit until after all the other steps necessary to complete the nomination of the candidate have been taken, and upon his accepting any deposit he shall give to the person by whom it is paid to him a receipt therefor which shall be conclusive evidence that the candidate has been duly and regularly nominated.

(7) At the close of the time for nominating the candidates the returning officer shall deliver to every candidate or the agent of a candidate applying therefor a duly certified list of the names of the several candidates who have been nominated.

24 Disposal of deposit

(1) The full amount of every deposit made under subsection (5) of section 23 shall forthwith after its receipt be transmitted by the returning officer to the Accountant- General.

(2) The full amount of every deposit shall be returned by the Accountant-General to the person who made such deposit or his personal representatives, upon the production by him or his personal representatives, as the case may be, of a certificate from the Chief Electoral Officer that the candidate was elected or polled not less than one-eighth of the total number of votes cast at the election, or died before the close of the poll on polling day.

(3) Where any candidate withdraws from the election in accordance with the provisions of subsection (1) of section 25, and the Chief Electoral Officer is satisfied that such withdrawal was consequent upon circumstances over which the candidate had no control and which he had no cause on or before nomination day to anticipate, the Chief Electoral Officer may certify accordingly to the Accountant-General.

(4) Where the Chief Electoral Officer certifies in accordance with the provisions of subsection (3), the Accountant-General shall refund to the candidate or to his personal representative one moiety of the deposit.

(5) Except as otherwise provided in this section, every deposit under subsection (5) of section 23 shall at the expiration of one month from the conclusion of the election in respect of which it was made, be paid into the Consolidated Fund.

25 Withdrawal of candidates

(1) Any candidate may withdraw at any time not less than one hundred and sixty-eight hours before the opening of the poll on polling day, by filing with the returning officer a declaration in writing to that effect signed by himself, and attested by the signatures oftwo qualified electors in the constituency, and any votes cast for the candidate who has so withdrawn shall be null and void.

(2) When a candidate has withdrawn after the ballots are printed, the returning office shall advise, by letter or telegraph, each presiding officer of his constituency of such withdrawal, and, when time permits, shall distribute to each presiding officer a printed notice of the withdrawal. On polling day each presiding officer shall post up a copy of the printed notice of withdrawal in a conspicuous place in his polling station. If time does notpermit of the printing and the distribution of such notice, the presiding officer, upon being advised by letter or telegram by the returning officer of the withdrawal of any candidate, shall himself prepare by hand a notice to that effect and post it up in a conspicuous place in his polling station. In either case the presiding officer shall, when delivering a ballot to each elector, inform such elector of the withdrawal of the candidate.

(3) If, after the withdrawal, there remains only one candidate, the returning officer shall return as duly elected the candidate so remaining without waiting for the day fixed for holding the poll.

26 Procedure on death of nominated candidate

(1) Whenever, before the closing of the poll, the returning officer becomes aware that any candidate has died since the close of the nominations, he shall' after communicating with the Chief Electoral Officer, adjourn the election to some day being not more than one month from the day originally fixed for the election.

(2) Whenever any election is adjourned in accordance with the provisions of subsection (1), the provisions of subsection (1) of section 22 shall apply as if the day upon which the election is adjourned were the day referred to in such subsection, and the day to which the election is adjourned were the day specified in the writ.

(3) Full particulars of any action taken under this section shall be reported by the returning officer to the Chief Electoral Officer with the return to the writ.

27 Return by acclamation

(1) Whenever only one candidate has been nominated within the time fixed for that purpose the returning officer shall forthwith make his return to the Chief Electoral Officer, in the form set out in the Second Schedule, that such candidate is duly elected for the said constituency and shall send within forty-eight hours a duplicate or certified copy of such return to the person elected.

(2) The returning officer shall include in his return to the Chief Electoral Officer a report of his proceedings and of any nomination proposed and rejected for noncompliance with the requirements of this Act.

(3) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to impose any liability upon any person nominated as a candidate by others without his consent, unless he has afterwards given his assent to such nomination or has been elected.

Electoral Commission of Jamaica,

http://www.eoj.com.jm/legislation-187.htm as retrieved on 2013-12-04.

The legislation doesn’t provide EDR mechanism for nomination and registration of the candidate. General information on candidate nomination procedure was provided (see sources).