JAMAICA | PNP's Paul Buchanan Files Application with Constituted Authority to Void The West Central St. Andrew Election

KINGSTON, Jamaica, September 18, 2025 - The People’s National Party’s Paul Buchanan yesterday filed an explosive application with the Constituted Authority to void the September 3 poll in West Central St. Andrew—a direct challenge to Prime Minister Andrew Holness's alleged victory in the constituency.

The move transforms what might have been dismissed as post-election grumbling into a formal legal confrontation that could unravel one of the most controversial electoral exercises in recent Jamaican history.

The PNP candidate's application reads like a catalog of democratic horrors: ballot boxes that mysteriously took four hours to reach counting centers, JLP operatives allegedly invading polling stations, systematic voter suppression through violence and intimidation, and electronic systems that conveniently failed when citizens attempted to vote. These aren't minor procedural hiccups—they're fundamental breaches that strike at the heart of electoral integrity.

The Ballot Box Mystery That Demands Answers

The most damning allegation centers on eighteen ballot boxes from the Seaward Primary School cluster that somehow didn't arrive at the counting center until 10:00 PM. In a digital age where we track food delivery in real-time, the idea that official ballot boxes could disappear into Kingston's streets for hours defies credibility.

The question haunting this election isn't just about irregular transportation—it's about what happened during those unaccounted hours when democracy's most sacred cargo was off the grid.

The alleged "invasion" of the Seaward Primary polling station by JLP operatives represents another catastrophic breach. When party operatives can reportedly storm polling facilities without consequence, we're witnessing the kind of electoral intimidation typically associated with failing democracies, not the Jamaica that prides itself on peaceful transitions of power.

Garrison Politics in Olympic Gardens

Buchanan's documentation of violence and intimidation in Olympic Gardens and Molynes Gardens divisions reveals that garrison politics—that cancer on Jamaican democracy—remains alive and malignant.

These communities, where political allegiance has historically been enforced through fear rather than persuasion, apparently witnessed coordinated campaigns to suppress opposition votes. When citizens must weigh their physical safety against their democratic rights, the election is already compromised.

The malfunctioning electronic voter identification system adds a particularly insidious dimension to the suppression tactics. This wasn't some nineteenth-century ballot-stuffing operation—it was allegedly a sophisticated use of technological "failure" to disenfranchise voters. Every citizen turned away due to system malfunction represents a vote stolen through digital manipulation.

The Prime Minister's Credibility Crisis

That these allegations involve Prime Minister Andrew Holness's own constituency race elevates this from local scandal to national crisis. The man who oversees Jamaica's democratic institutions stands accused of benefiting from their systematic failure.

The conflict of interest is so profound it threatens to delegitimize not just one election result, but the entire apparatus of Jamaican democracy.

The JLP's response—or stunning lack thereof—to these specific allegations suggests either an inability to defend the indefensible or a calculated bet that power trumps accountability.

No explanation for the ballot box delays, no investigation into the polling station invasion, no transparency about the technology failures. In democracy, silence in the face of such serious allegations is tantamount to admission.

In the final count Andrew Holness was given the electoral victory with 7,054 votes to Paul Buchanan's 4,953. 

Fourteen Days to Reclaim Democracy

The Constituted Authority now has two weeks to decide whether Buchanan's application warrants an Election Court petition. This isn't merely a procedural deadline—it's a countdown to determine whether Jamaica's democracy retains any meaningful substance or has devolved into elaborate political theater.

If the September 3 irregularities in West Central St. Andrew are allowed to stand, Jamaica sends a clear message: elections are negotiable, votes are optional, and power flows not from the people but from those bold enough to seize it.

Buchanan's challenge isn't just about one constituency—it's about whether Jamaica remains a democracy worth defending.

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