Director of Elections Glasspole Brown is taking a wait-and-see approach to determine whether the withdrawal of temporary election day workers because of quarantine threats from employers will affect operations at polling stations islandwide when Jamaicans vote on Thursday.
His comment comes in the wake of emerging cases of employers, ranging from financial institutions to corporate giants, vowing to force workers to stay home after election day while deducting the 14-day period from their vacation and sick leave benefits.
A spike in coronavirus cases, nearing 2,500 up to Monday, has triggered concerns that a failure to adhere to health guidelines during voting might increase infections. Numerous workplaces shutter daily as the virus spreads throughout the population.
A decision allowing infected voters to turn up at polling booths may also be adding to fears that temporary election day workers may transfer the virus when they return to their standard jobs.
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