Parliamentary Election, 3 September 2025

On 3 September 2025, Jamaica held a general election to elect all 63 members of the lower chamber, the House of Representatives. The elections are conducted using a first-past-the-post electoral system and the elected members serve a five-year term (IPU n.d.). The upper chamber of parliament is the Senate, which is not directly elected (IFES 2025).

Elections are administered by the Electoral Commission of Jamaica, which is an independent and autonomous body that reports directly to Parliament. The Commission comprises eight members, with four selected and four nominated by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition—two each from each leader (Electoral Commission n. d.).

The main contenders in this election were two traditional political parties—the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People’s National Party (PNP)—which nominated their candidates in all 63 constituencies and were the only parties to win seats. However, this was the first general election when other political organizations contested the race on such a large scale, with Jamaica Progressive Party (JPP) nominating candidates in 43 constituencies (OAS 2025). As the JLP won the majority of seats, incumbent prime minister Andrew Holness secured his third term in office; but the opposition improved its position in parliament by 14 seats (Reuters 2025). The number of women in the House of Representatives increased minimally, from 18 to 19 (30 per cent)  (Electoral Commission n. d.)

Although the campaign period was short—the 3 September polling date being announced only on 10 August—the elections were conducted in a transparent and orderly manner, with election day atmosphere described as calm and demonstrating civic maturity (OAS ). The leader of the opposition accepted the results and conceded defeat (OAS 2025). There were nevertheless instances or allegations of vandalism against electoral materials, inappropriate/ inciteful campaign language and disruptive bomb hoaxes in the run-up to the elections. 

In particular, observers heard repeated concerns about gender stereotyping and gender-based violence in the political field, reporting gender stereotyping, threats, intimidation, restricted access to communities, destruction of campaign materials, and harassment intended to undermine participation and deter political engagement (OEA OAS 2025, The Gleaner 2025a; The Gleaner 2025b).   

OAS observers noted with concern the disengagement of citizens in the political and electoral process. Although around two per cent higher than in the 2020 election, which took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, the 39.5 per cent turnout was among the lowest in all Jamaican general elections (OAS 2025; International IDEA n.d.).

AI-generated disinformation did feature in the online campaign, one example being a deepfake of Donald Trump purporting to show the US President making a barrage of denunciations against Jamaica’s incumbent candidate (Edwards 2025). 

Innovations

During this election, the Electronic Voting Identification System (EVIS) was tested in seven constituencies. While this technology was used in the 2016 election, an updated version was deployed in voting districts that had experienced identity verification issues in previous elections. The EVIS machines generally performed effectively (CARICOM 2025). However, officers had to revert to the manual procedure in some polling stations. This switch does not appear to have caused any major disruptions (OAS 2025; CARICOM 2025).