KINGSTON (Reuters) -Jamaicans headed to the polls on Wednesday for a general election that was expected to be a close contest between the nation's two major political parties, following a campaign dominated by competing tax-cut proposals and sharp accusations of corruption.
The election's leading contenders are incumbent Prime Minister Dr. Andrew Holness and his Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People's National Party (PNP), led by Mark Golding. Recent polls have offered conflicting outlooks, suggesting the outcome could be decided by a narrow margin.
Both parties made bold, last-minute economic pledges in an effort to sway voters. At a major rally, Golding announced a proposal to raise the income tax threshold to J$3.5 million ($21,983.54) from J$1.8 million. In response, incumbent Holness promised that his government, if reelected, would slash the income tax from 25% to 15%.
Holness has campaigned on his government's economic record over the past nine years, pointing to a record-low unemployment rate of 3.3%. His administration also cites a historic reduction in poverty, with the Planning Institute of Jamaica reporting the rate fell to 8.2% in 2023 from 16.7% in 2021, the lowest since measurement began in 1989.
Holness' government also increased salaries for most public sector workers.
The incumbent has also pointed to a sharp reduction in crime, with total murders falling to their lowest in 25 years in the first quarter of 2025.
The campaign, however, was also marked by tense sparring over governance and integrity. The PNP criticized the Holness administration on issues including the cost of acquiring secondhand school buses and the prime minister's uncertified statutory declarations.
Holness, in turn, attacked Golding for his role in advising the PNP government in the 1990s that implemented high-interest-rate policies, which Holness claimed hurt the nation's entrepreneurial class.
Voter turnout was expected to be a key factor in the results. The previous general election in September 2020, held during the COVID-19 pandemic, saw an anemic turnout of just 37%.
As of 3 p.m. local time (2000 GMT) 30% of the electorate had voted on Wednesday, according to the elections authority.
($1 = 159.2100 Jamaican dollars)
(Reporting by Zahra Burton; Additional reporting by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Jamie Freed)
