Talk:2016 Jamaican general election

A news item involving 2016 Jamaican general election was featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the In the news section on 29 February 2016.

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Phrasing

It plainly makes no sense to title an article "Jamaican general election, .." and then begin by saying "General elections were held in..". Doing so brings about difficulties for both editor and reader that can easily be avoided. If the term general elections were right for the text, it would be right for the title - but it isn't. It's not even as though the term general election is particularly apt here - parliamentary election would be more precise. Harfarhs (talk) 15:24, 8 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

The title is not really irrelevant as it's a standard formula – we wouldn't start the article "Jamaican general election, 2016". I don't see how using "General elections" brings about any difficulties that need to be avoided. It's a pretty standard way to start an article (all but one of the Jamaican election articles begin this way).

Also, the term general election is the name for parliamentary elections in most commonwealth countries, so I don't see any issues with precision. Number 5 7 17:30, 8 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

It may be a "standard formula", but it's plainly the wrong standard formula, as the first sentence shows. Just because a format or phrasing is of long standing does not mean it is the best one, or even the right one. Moreover, this phrasing will confuse those who are unfamiliar with technical English - they will wonder whether they ought to say 'elections' or 'election', when they could be using their time more efficiently. Confusion is never a good thing. Editors will end up using the plural when the grammar of sentences implies the singular is correct. Furthermore, a more precise name is always more valuable than a name of general use - otherwise we would write encyclopaedias in textspeak. Harfarhs (talk) 17:47, 8 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

It's not plainly wrong in any sense. Whilst "elections" is the more common way of describing a single election, the singlular and plural are used interchangeably. I also have to disagree with your last point; "general election" is precise in this case because as in the UK, the meaning of general election in Jamaica is the same as parliamentary election. Number 5 7 19:24, 8 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

"Elections" is not the more common way of describing a single election - as reference to almost every WP article on the subject, among other things, shows. If your point were correct, the word would be used throughout the article, but it is not, because no-one wants the article to sound ridiculous. Moreover, for the sake of clarity, it is extremely useful to distinguish between cases where candidates are contesting for places in more than one governmental body (e.g. Sweden) and cases when they are not. 'Parliamentary election' fits the bill perfectly in this case. Harfarhs (talk) 21:02, 8 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

If you believe the "parliamentary election"is a preferable title to "general election" then by all means start an RM. However, the evidence available on Jamaican news websites suggests this is not a good idea with WP:COMMONNAME in mind. Number 5 7 21:15, 8 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Possible dates when election could have been held

"..and 16 March 2017 (within three months of the date in 2012 of the first sitting of the new Parliament, on 17 January)."

Plainly there is an error there, but I'll leave someone with access to the Jamaican constitution to work out whether "16 March" or "three months" is the phrase more likely to need adjustment. Harfarhs (talk) 20:52, 8 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

The constitution states that (a) parliament is automatically dissolved five years after its first sitting (article 64 (2)) and that a general election must be held within three months of a dissolution (article 65). I have reworded the text and corrected the date to 16 April and 16 March was within two months rather than three. Number 5 7 21:23, 8 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

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