Voters urged to cooperate with election officials

| 27/08/2016 | 21 Comments
Cayman News Service

Elections officials busy preparing for the May 2017 Elections

(CNS): The drive to update the existing register of voters for the May 2017 General Elections began on Saturday, when over 160 elections officials began the massive campaign of going door-to-door to every home in Cayman. The enumerators will be knocking on doors until the end of September in order to ensure the voter list is accurate, ahead of Cayman’s first election held under the system of ‘one man, one vote’ (OMOV) in single member constituencies.

“Since the electoral boundaries have changed with the introduction of 19 single member electoral districts over the three islands, the majority of voters in the Cayman Islands will vote for only one candidate for the first time,” Supervisor of Elections Wesley Howell said in a release this week, as he stressed the importance of the project.

The OMOV system is new to the old West Bay, George Town, Bodden Town and Sister Islands districts, where the bulk of the electors reside. While some of the boundaries in the areas that were multi-member constituencies are similar to the previous polling station boundaries, there are some major changes, so in addition to ensuring that voters’ details are accurate and people are living where they say they are, the officials will be explaining to voters which new constituency they are now registered in for the vote.

As part of the campaign, elections officials will be knocking on every residential door in all three of the Cayman Islands and all of the districts. They will carry IDs and items provided by the Elections Office to establish their bona fides. Howell asked the public to “courteously cooperate in this crucial exercise over the next month”, which he said was an important part of the local democratic process

Given the size of the task, even with 160 volunteers the exercise may not be completed by the end of next month. If there are still homes to be checked and voters to be verified, the enumerators will be back on the streets in November, as many will be involved in work with the Economics and Statistics office in October.

The Elections Office has a lot of work ahead of it before Nomination Day next March. After updating the existing list of around 18,300 voters, the next step will be a drive to register those entitled to vote but who have not yet added their names to the electoral roll.

The office will also be tasked with helping voters understand the new system, including where they will vote and the fact that on voting day, regardless of the number of candidates running in the constituency where they are resident, they can only vote for one of them.

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Category: 2017 General Elections, Elections, Politics

Comments (21)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    BLA .. BA.. BLA CAN’T WE ALL JUST GET TO HELL ALONG ….. Stop this “them Vs US” shit. Guest what if the Island sinks overnight we all go down with it. just saying. Stop the hate too much all over this world and in closing ” We eat to live, and Live to Die” for sure.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Politicians are urged to cooperate with the public…

  3. Anonymous says:

    I hope they are verifying that the potential voters are “real Caymanians” according to Immigration’s definition of “Caymanian”. How many on your list that has been born since 27th March 1977 has received an ‘Acknowledgement of the right to be a Caymanian’? According to the LAW, that document is required if born after such time, in order to be identified as a Caymanian, as a birth certificate nor a passport is sufficient.

    • Anonymous says:

      That’s not the half of it. Your parents must also have been British Subjects and be settled in Cayman. A large number of “Caymanians” are not. That is a fact.

    • Anonymous says:

      No they are not. The result is almost certainly that unqualified persons are being registered, perhaps even in significant numbers. What is most frightening is that they seem not to care.

    • Datisme says:

      “Caymanians” are nothing more than paper Brits, truth.

    • Anonymous says:

      Even some status holders should not be legal, as they obtained their status from spouse or parents, who themselves are not been acknowledged as “Caymanian” by immigration. Go figure.

  4. All in says:

    I am always frustrated when I hear “paper caymanians” saying they have no interest in voting. Yet they are quite willing to make use of the benefits of being caymanian like student scholarships and business ownership. They should automatically be added to the voters register. All votes count and impact the society we all live in.

    • Anonymous says:

      Perhaps it is because you refer to them as ‘paper’ Caymanians. Since there is no such thing in law you are guilty of discrimination. Make them feel like they are Caymanians and perhaps there will be more cooperation, but then again I have seen the term ‘multi generational’ Caymanians being used now, there is no end to it.

    • Anonymous says:

      Utter garbage, if you want them to be forced to vote, then give them the right to stand after 25 years or so. You would have every soul register.
      We need fresh, honest, caring blood, not money driven maniacs who use the public purse as a slush fund.
      Years ago there was an aura surrounding politicians. I used to be amazed at them. These powerful men and women leading their nations captivated me.
      I even joined the conservative students at University, much to the ridicule of most other students. Being hated just for having an opinion was quite novel.
      Well sadly, the conservatives are only conservative by name these days.
      They have all sold out to the coming New World Order. We will soon just be numbers according to our microchips.
      What we will have to vote for is one Freemason or the other. The end result will be the same, our slavery.
      I am supposed to vote for that?

  5. Anonymous says:

    Since you publish the home address of jurors, exposing them to unnecessary risk, no!

  6. Anonymous says:

    Why should expats cooperate? We have no say in the system here.

  7. Brac sceptic says:

    I hope the people doing the work on the Brac are brought from Grand and Brackers are not used. When this kind of thing, like the census, is done, they use Brac civil servants who all report to the Admin building. You can learn a lot about peoples business by hanging around the lunch room in that building.

  8. Anonymous says:

    Some do not want to be placed on the available jurors list either given the overwhelming lack,of confidentiality in the criminal justice system. Personally, I will not be cooperating one iota. Sorry but I do not trust you with the information nor do I expect much professional conduct during this process.

    • Anonymous says:

      Likewise. I will not be cooperating with this incompetence nor voting for the incompetents. I will not be party to (s)electing self-serving, somewhat illiterate buffoons to draw massive salaries and squander the public purse.
      Send me someone of integrity to believe in and I may relent.

  9. Anonymous says:

    Voting should be a right, not a duty.

  10. Sharkey says:

    Or someone is making sure that all the T’s are crossed and I’s are dotted before the next election to stay in power, and the election goes smoothly.

  11. Anonymous says:

    Permanent voters should have
    Right to vote. But not those who not pay their annual fees.

  12. Anonymous says:

    No better than the Jehovah’s witnesses, stay the hell away from my door.

  13. Anonymous says:

    Some of the prospective “voters” probably do not want Government to find out they are not legally Caymanian, hence a reason for a lack of cooperation. Better to continue to stay under the radar.

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