Orrette Fisher is an accomplished elections management specialist with more than 23 years of experience in the planning and execution of national elections. Up until 2018, Mr. Fisher served the Electoral Commission of Jamaica for 23 years – the latter ten years of his tenure as Director of Elections – which required the management of national elections, multi-million dollar budgets, political party and campaign financing, voter registration and education, elections information systems management and other aspects of electoral operations.
As Director of Elections, he successfully administered four national elections in Jamaica, and was credited with modernizing the Election Management Information System (EMIS) in Jamaica, which facilitated reports throughout the election day and box-by-box reporting of results during same-day preliminary counts.
Now, an independent consultant in Elections Management and Training, he has been contracted to provide consultancy, administrative and technical support by several organizations including the CARICOM Secretariat, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the International Foundation of Electoral Systems (IFES) and the International Republican Institute (IRI). This includes in-person, comprehensive consultations for national elections in Dominica, Guyana, Jamaica, Turks and Caicos Islands and St. Eustacius.
Mr. Fisher has also participated in, or led electoral observer missions to several countries including the 2008 United States presidential election, as well as national elections in Suriname, Honduras, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Antigua and Barbuda, Trinidad and Tobago, The Bahamas and Nigeria.
Mr. Fisher holds a Master’s Degree in Public Sector Management and a Bachelor’s Degree in Management Studies, both from the University of the West Indies, Jamaica. He also has several professional certifications including a certificate in Management of Electoral Processes from the International Centre for Parliamentary Studies (ICPS) in London.