KINGSTON, Jamaica, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Voters in Jamaica Thursday went to the polls in what observers say could be the closest prime minister race in the Caribbean country's history.
The country's approximately 1.6 million registered voters must choose between 39-year-old Andrew Holness, who would be the youngest prime minister if elected, and Portia Simpson Miller, who is seeking to return to the prime minister's office, the Jamaica Observer reported.
The winner succeeds Jamaica Labor Party leader Bruce Golding, who was elected in 2007 and decided to leave office after four years, paving the way for Holness, his education minister. Simpson Miller is a member of the People's National Party, which narrowly lost the 2007 general election.
Besides electing a prime minister, Jamaicans will elect 63 people from 150 candidates to fill legislative seats.
People's National Party campaign chief Peter Phillips said his party would win at least 37 seats while Generation 2000, the professional arm of the Jamaica Labor Party said it would claim 40 seats based on "a mix of constituency polls and comprehensive organizational analyses."
