One week left to make New Year election list

| 23/09/2019 | 13 Comments
Cayman News Service
Elections Office banner on Smith Road

(CNS): If government sets the referendum on the question of its proposed cruise berthing project in the New Year, eligible voters who have not yet registered have just one week left to make the electoral roll. The cut-off point for the 1 January 2020 register of electors is 30 September, and although no date has yet been set, the possibility of a January vote opens a small window of opportunity for eligible Caymanians to still make the list.

Government may still try to squeeze in a ballot in December, which would mean that only those on the list that will be published on 1 October would be entitled to vote. However, government still has to draft the legislation, including the question, which requires a consultation period of 21 days. The Elections Office also needs time to deal with postal ballots and other issues, which means that holding the referendum before the end of the year is unlikely.

The campaigners behind the petition believe that having a ballot before the New Year would not only be very tight for the administrative elements of the vote but would also not give the public enough time to receive and digest all of the information relevant to the question.

While they remain confident that more people in Cayman oppose the project than support it, they have a distinct disadvantage because a people-initiated referendum requires 50% plus one of the entire electorate, not just a majority of votes cast, in order to carry the day.

Therefore, as well as persuading voters that the port would have negative financial and environmental impacts on the Cayman Islands, campaigners opposing the port project will be working hard to get people to come out and vote on the day. Depending on how the question is posed, not voting would effectively be a vote in favour of the government’s proposed cruise berthing facility.

The campaigners secured the signatures of almost 6,000 voters, 5,305 of whom were formally verified, but stopping the project will required a gargantuan effort to get everyone to the polls. The current voters list stands at 21,166, which would mean that 10,584 voters would need to vote against the project, more that twice the number of petition signatures that were verified as supporting the national vote.

The 1 October list is expected to be even longer, as the Elections Office reported a surge in registration as the petition reached the target.

Despite the challenge, many people feel very strongly about this proposed project and the campaigners remain confident that they will get the people to the polls. While many voters, especially government workers, were not comfortable signing the petition because of their jobs, they will be able to take part in the actual referendum.

For more information about registering to vote or about the electoral roll in general, visit the Elections Office website here.


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Category: development, Local News, Politics

Comments (13)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    No beautiful island should have six lane highways. Think of a better solution.

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  2. Ron Ebanks says:

    I urge everyone to Register to vote and vote in the referendum if you care about your and Grand children future .
    This pier will not benefit you or the Environment which our grand children future hinges upon .

    Remember that the Cayman Islands Tourism has depended on the underwear environment
    To make our Tourism for over 50 years now and if we take care of it we will have it for the future generations to come ..

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  3. Anonymous says:

    We just can’t keep widening roads at the same time we import thousands of new cars into Grand Cayman every year. Does nobody understand that this approach is simply not sustainable?

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  4. Anonymous says:

    “they have a distinct disadvantage because a people-initiated referendum requires 50% plus one of the entire electorate, not just a majority of votes cast, in order to carry the day.”

    While this is true I fail to understand why this is a focus for the media or for pro-port commentators
    Even if the total number against is not 50+1% of the electorate are we really stipulating that the government can simply disregard the result? The 50+1% of the total electorate is necessary for the result to be BINDING on the government, there is still every likelihood that the government will back down from the project even if that threshold is not met as it is almost certain the government will lose this vote

    Unless the argument being made here is that the government will ignore the referendum result unless it reaches the 50+1% threshold and they are forced to abide by it.
    Which would be quite extraordinary, seeing as that assertion has never been made by the CIG I would be interested in putting that Question to the Premier or Deputy Premier

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    • Anonymous says:

      If I were against the port, why would I waste my time to go in and vote when not showing up achieves the same thing?

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      • Anonymous says:

        You have that backwards. Staying home would be a vote in support of the port.

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      • Anonymous says:

        This is not how it works when you need 50%+1 of all registered voters to show up and vote no. The smaller the no voter turnout, the harder it is to get there.

    • Anonymous says:

      “Unless the argument being made here is that the government will ignore the referendum result unless it reaches the 50+1% threshold and they are forced to abide by it.”

      That’s exactly the assertion being made, and frankly I’m a bit confused as to how you can believe otherwise, based on this government’s track record.

    • Anonymous says:

      You must be new here.

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