80% of petition confirmed
(CNS): The prospect of a people-initiated referendum on the cruise project is inching towards a reality, as the Elections Office revealed Tuesday that it has now verified 80% of the signatures on the petition required to trigger the poll. In the latest update on the petition calling for a referendum on government’s cruise proposal, officials said that 4,235 names have been confirmed. The office now needs to check just 1,057 more names to reach 5,292, which is 25% of the electorate.
In just six weeks the Elections Office has managed to confirm 80% of the required signatures, despite fears that government’s insistence that every single name had to be confirmed, rather than random sampling, might prove difficult. The activists behind the campaign remain confident that the petition will reach the magic number, confirming that at least 25% of registered voters want to see a national poll on this subject.
Speaking on the breakfast radio show, Crosstalk, this week, Johann Moxam, one of the leading members of the Cruise Port Referendum campaign, said that despite ongoing concerns about signators being off-island because of summer vacations, the verification process had gone relatively smoothly.
He said he expects that the Elections Office will have verified 5,292 names well before the end of this month. He said volunteers were still collecting names for the petition to make up for any shortfall as a result of people being away.
See the latest results on verification from the Elections Office below:
Cruise Port Referendum Signature Verification Countdown
* 5,438 submitted June 12th + 199 submitted July 11th + 26 submitted August 5th
** Constitutionally required 25% of the 21,116 registered electors = 5,292
| # of Elector Signatures submitted for Verification* | # of verification forms received | # of signatures remaining to be verified | # of verification forms remaining to reach 5,292** | % of the required 5,292** signatures received | Date & Time of Last Update |
| 5,663 | 4,235 | 1,428 | 1,057 | 80.0% | 6 Aug, 1pm |
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Category: Local News
I don’t think these guys would have gotten even 1000 signatures if the information that CIG has finally released showing real costs and design and that there is now China Harbour involved.
And that there is NO China Harbour involved
I still have no idea about the design, the true costs, the business case, the environmental damage, environmental mitigation, or who will actually benefit and how. The Chinese were only a small part of my concerns.
1:37 I think you are saying you have the alternative!
No where in the world, have I heard of countries verifying signatures separately to launch a referendum! Shouldn’t the verification had been on the day you signed? In other words, is not your passport or voters ID card sufficient? Reason- I am afraid doing such a separate verification process, could leave room for political tampering, and real signatories being omitted deliberately, and moreover is just a wasted time, energy, and monies. What if not all signatures are verified, then what?
Don’t get me wrong. I understand if there is reasonable cause to believe there is foul play, government does have the right to verify. But … is this the case here???
If not, going forward, I don’t think this is a good government practice.
I will also add, for a small island where many Caymanians travel, go and come, 25% of the electorate to initiate a referendum is too much of a high bar. Why 25%? Is there a valid reason why they put it at 25? Who set this number 25 in the first place?
Appreciate your valid concerns however, we have more signatures than are required so the feeling is that we will make the cut. Besides, it is almost complete so, all good!!
The actual issue at hand is the propaganda machine that the public purse will be paying for once those in power begin to fight against the voting public.
We are hoping that the public will be more educated and aware of the extent of destruction that will be caused when building this berth.
The benefits will NEVER outweigh the disaster that WILL be caused.
The issues are many, not least of which there are no Referendum Law, or enacted Standards in Public Life Law, and Unity gov’t get to design the question (again) in the style of a negative response affirmation, AND the abnormal flexibility to insist on 50%+1 of the entire electorate to vote AGAINST to stop it (as opposed to 50%+1 of turnout). Therefore, there needs to be a minimum of 10,585+1 against in the eventual vote, and that threshold will keep going up as new voters are gazetted between now and the referendum.
8:41 you are saying vote no.
Don’t be too sure that the vote will go smoothly if there are enough signatures for a legal referendum! I believe our government will come up with something else to block our vote! They will do anything to block our voting against the stupid dock!
A Petition signed by 25% of the electorate is the trigger for a people-initiated referendum (PIR) under §70 of the Cayman Islands Constitution Order 2009. There is no Referendum Law, so the ride gets even wilder and more corrupt after it is triggered.
sure let’s halt all business and do a referendum for bogus change.org petitions while we’re at it
Take it easy. This is the first ever PIR in Cayman history. We MUST get this right, so I fully support the current process. After all the signatures are confirmed and we have our first Peoples Initiated Referendum, THEN we can refine the process, so it is easier next time, and there will be a next time, or several of them.
In the meantime, we should all support the process, regardless of whether you support the cruise port. We should always support an avenue of the people deciding important issues in our country/BDT.
I find it entertaining to listen to Austin swivel and turn on the issue of the port. My my my, how quick he has started singing a different tune. All those years on the radio, screaming about how the PPM and UDP wasn’t looking out for the average Caymanian. Now look at him.
This is what you get when you elect blowhard radio talk show hosts.
Nobody elected the Unity gov’t.
next time we will vote for an all independent Government that will make every one happy!
what if a Government had not form in the last election?
Let me fix that sentence… This is what you get when you elect blowhard radio talk show hosts who have hit a women.
I stand corrected. Thank you.
Woman beater
In his own words, drinking that kool-aid.
Never again will I waste my vote on austin harris. He is the premier’s talking parrot. I feel betrayed by his overdose on the kool aid.
Austin will be a one term wonder I hope he saves some money he is done in 2021
You know 2:00 am, the other day I was just thinking the same thing. What a shame, money root of all evils. We should start a petition to get marjuannia legalized too. Because all this so called Unity Government and many before have done. Is convicted our Caymanian people, too many young men and women going to Northward and Fairbanks for 1 spliff. Thank goodness cannibus oil is now available medically for those who it helps. Mla Austin Harris it’s a crying shame you never honoured the commitment you made me via email to meet with me. Paper trails I learned a long long time ago when I was a younger Caymanian man. They never never tell lies, only the truth and facts in either words or figures.
So Unity Government let the people, the registered voters of this country The Cayman Islands have their say.
Thank you.
Who votes for hin again can get the biggest fool of the decade award
2:00 do you know the story of Saul in the Bible!
Mr. Premier, why don’t you get for Caymanians what you got for Jamacans, mainy, you fixed it for Jamaicans coming to Cayman under 14 and over 70 they Did Not have to to get Visa’s, but you would Not get it for Caymanians of the same ages going to Jamaica. Same on you Mr. PREMIER, If Jamaica would not do it, then you should not did it. Why don’t you answer this statement here on C N S ?
This is probably the most efficient ANY entity has been on Cayman. Hats off to the Election Office. Wesley Howell, you are wasted son. You’ve earned yourself a wee bargaining chip for your next venture.
Perfectly said. Great going Mr. Wesley and all the troops!! This is exciting and historic. We will all remember the day the first PIR was voted upon.
World Class Civil service. The envy of the world
I hear that they even envy him in China, India and Timbuktu! Books should be written about him, monuments erected and statues built. Move over Ghandi and Mother Teresa, we have Wesley Howell! As for me, I’ll stick with a note of thanks for doing his job well.
IF it ever comes to pass!
Indeed. Came here just to say the same thing – top lad. Congratulations on a job well done!
Am happy to say I signed the petition. Waiting now to see what tricks this so called Unity Government will play from its stack of horrible cards, upon us registered voters who signed the petition. And Alden, Moses, Mckeeva must be worrying really hard right about now. A big Thank you to Mr. Howell and all of his staff at our Elections Office for always doing an excellent job. This so called Unity Government could learn a few things from Mr. Howell. Thank you.
The trick they will play is that they will ignore the result of the referendum if it doesn’t get 50% + 1 of the electorate to vote against the cruise dock (which it won’t get because referenda held outside of a general election are unlikely to get a very high turnout anywhere in the world). They will ignore it because even if a large majority of those who do vote in the referendum, vote against the cruise dock, it will only be advisory to the government – which means they can ignore. That’s what they’ll do.
Moses gone to the Brac, hide in the caves
He doesn’t ever hide; he is always accessible.
Why didn’t he come to the meeting last year then
Really? Wel all don’t hang out at Country and Western
Can he take Alden and Mac with him?
hey…mr. guy harvey…where you at man? not a word from you concerning the environmental impact…you saved the sharks…now save our island? i see your ad on tv about saving mangroves? helpppppp……😢😢😢😢😢😦😦😦😩😩😩
I am Confusion! What exactly is a referendum anyways. Because my end question is that if the referendum gets triggered does that mean the port campaign gets annulled, or is it merely halted.
CNS: A referendum is a national poll. It is conducted just like a general election, but instead of voting for MLAs, voters will answer the referendum question. Referendums can be called by the government or, as in this case, if 25% of the electorate sign a petition calling for one. Once the required number of signatures has been verified, it is expected that the port project will be halted at least until after the referendum.
If more than half of all registered voters say ‘no’ to the port during the referendum, then it is expected that the project will be cancelled. If 50% or less vote ‘no’ (i.e. the no vote does not reach the bar set under the Constitution) then the government will likely take that as a mandate to proceed with the port.
However, this will be the first referendum in the Cayman Islands initiated by the people and the relevant legislation governing it has not been enacted, so it will be interesting to see exactly how it plays out.
Hi Confusion. I’m Subterfuge. I normally get my way in the Cayman Islands.
We want the referendum it will show gowermint how the people feel about the port and them. The ppm have become worse than the udp
How many signatures that they found, (if any) was fake ?
Excellent question. I think the answer is very few, if any, proving the integrity of the CPR camaign and process. I wonder how much will have been spent by dishonest politicians using honest civil servants to try to prove that their honest constituents are liars? Governor, good governance?
Poor Alden’s head going to explode because of CPR
Alden Moses McKeeva and their band of merry men must be shitting themselves right about now.
No, they will simply word the referendum in such a way as to render the result useless. The wording of the referendum should be as specified in the petition, and the gov’t rubes should not be able to change it. Just remember the OMOV referendum, and the poorly worded question presented to the electorate!
The proposed question should be the subject of a Question Assessment Report from the UK Electoral Commission, and altered as necessary to ensure that it’s clear, simple and neutral.