The Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) now has the required number of signatures for a petition to extend the Portmore municipal boundaries.
A preliminary count of signatures collected over the past two weeks indicates that 6,655 persons have signed.
Currently, residents of sections of the Greater Portmore North and Portmore Pines electoral divisions, are not able to elect the Mayor of the municipality as they fall outside the boundaries.
The Municipal Act requires that the signatures of at least seven percent or 6,480 registered electors in Portmore be collected to facilitate the change.
Director of Elections Orrette Fisher says after final verification, the data will be passed on to the Ministry of Local Government, which has responsibility for setting municipal boundaries.
Electoral Commission of Jamaica has defended the actions of the Electoral Office in collecting the signatures in Portmore.
The Electoral Commission in a brief statement this afternoon, reiterated that the EOJ was asked by the Ministry of Local Government to administer the petition.
It said the Director of Elections acted in accordance with the full knowledge and support of the Commission’s recommendation.
The Commission said it agrees that there should be a re-definition of the statutory boundaries of Portmore to conform to the boundaries of the three constituencies that make up the Municipality.
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