Chamber:
	House of Representatives
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	16 October 2002
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all the seats of the House of Representatives on the normal expiry of the members' term of office.
Background and outcome of elections:
	On 16 October 2002, some 1.3 million Jamaicans voted to elect the 60 new members of the House of Representatives. The international community urged political leaders to control violence amongst their supporters in advance of the elections, as more than 50 people had been killed across the island since the electoral campaign started on 17 July 2002. Death rates during election periods have been steadily declining since 1980, when more than 800 people were killed in election-related violence. Nevertheless, the electoral authorities had to halt the campaign in some constituencies for fear of further violence. In their electoral programmes, announced during the campaign, the two main parties, the ruling People's National Party (PNP) and the opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), emphasised their intention to reduce crime and invest more in education and social development. Crime was their main subject as Jamaica has one of the highest murder rates in the world, with an average of three people killed every day of the year. The PNP vowed to enhance seaborne security patrols, reduce drug trafficking and provide more vehicles to assist police, while the JLP pledged to fight crime by establishing an independent Police Services Commission and improving pay for police and soldiers. On election day, more than 11,000 members of the Security Forces were deployed at nearly 7,300 polling stations across the island in an unprecedented peacekeeping operation. Former US President Jimmy Carter, who headed a team of international observers to monitor the elections, declared that the voting appeared to be orderly and that the election had been relatively free and fair. When the results were announced, members of the governing People's National Party (PNP) celebrated after winning the general election. The party was returned for a record fourth consecutive term but with a much reduced majority, as it obtained 36 of the 60 seats at stake, as against 50 in the outgoing legislature. The opposition JLP won the remaining 24 seats. Mr. P.J. Patterson, who was sworn in as Prime Minister on 23 October 2002 for his third term of office, became the first Jamaican leader to swear allegiance to the Constitution and people of Jamaica instead of the British monarch, as had been the norm since 1944. The new Parliament was sworn in on 14 November 2002. Mr. Michael Peart was elected as the new Speaker of the House of Representatives, while Ms. Syring Marshall-Burnett was returned as President of the Senate.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (16 October 2002): Elections results
Number of registered electors	1 293 373
Voters	734 628 (57 %)

Round no 1: Distribution of votes
Political Group	Votes
People's National Party (PNP)	383 887
Jamaica Labour Party (JLP)	346 860

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total
People's National Party (PNP)	34
Jamaica Labour Party (JLP)	26

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	53
Women:	7
Percent of women:	11.67