11th hour rule change protects ballot secrecy
(CNS): A small but important amendment was made to the rules governing elections in the Cayman Islands this week in order to protect the secrecy of the ballot at the count on Wednesday night. The Election Act Rules were changed by Cabinet at the eleventh hour to allow postal and mobile station ballots to be mixed with ballots in Election Day boxes prior to the start of any count so that agents, candidates and others present at the count will not be able to work out who did or did not vote for them via mobile and postal voting.
Supervisor of Elections Wesley Howell had put forward the change to protect voting secrecy when it became apparent that in some constituencies the small number of postal and mobile votes meant that an individual count of each box could allow people to infer the identity of voters and how they cast their ballots. He noted that this was also a recommendation that had been previously made by international election observers.
“Secrecy of the vote is the cornerstone of any democracy and it is essential that we be vigilant in its protection whatever circumstances may arise. Given the low number of mobile and postal ballots cast in some electoral districts in this election, we realised there would be an issue and took prompt steps to address it,” Howell said.
See Howell explain the change below on the GIS video:
Category: Election News
