Apply for postal ballots now

Registered voters who will be off-island for the 18 July one-person, one-vote referendum may apply now for postal ballots.  

Application forms for postal ballots may be obtained from the voter’s district registering officer or from the Elections Office at the Smith Road Centre. They may also be downloaded from the Election Office website, but cannot be submitted on-line.  

Registered voters have until 12 days before the poll – 6 July – to return the completed application to their district registering officer for a postal ballot. The application can be posted or given to the officer in person or returned to the Elections Office, which is open 8.30am to 5pm Monday through Friday. 

Once the registering officer confirms that the applicant is on the official list of electors, a postal ballot will be sent by registered mail to the address the voter specifies. The marked ballot must then be returned to the district returning officer by the close of polls on 18 July, which is at 6pm. The ballots may be mailed, sent by courier or hand delivered.  

“We’re urging people who are going to be off-island to apply immediately,” Supervisor of Elections Kearney Gomez said. 

The voters’ list to be used for the referendum is the one went into effect on 1 July. Registration day for that list was 1 April and anyone who did not register to vote by that date will not be able to take part in the referendum.  

If someone is eligible to vote but did not register, it’s unfortunate, Mr. Gomez agreed. But he pointed out that voter registration has been going on continuously, with quarterly cut-off dates, since November 1999.  

“The onus is on the elector,” he said. 

Also, just because someone signed up to vote does not mean he or she is on the voters list. The registering officer must double check the information supplied. Then a revising officer has to hear claims and objections. 

That is why Registration Day is three months before the latest list comes into force, Deputy Supervisor of Elections Colford Scott explained. People who are already on the voters list need not register again. 

Physical preparations for the referendum are well under way, both men said. Polling stations have been identified, poll workers recruited and record-keeping forms have been devised.  

Registering Officers 

West Bay, Darlene Owens-Elliott, 516-4402. 

George Town, Kathryn Myles, 516-2117. 

Bodden Town, Kerry Nixon, 516-4478. 

East End, Leisha Velonie Welcome, 516-4647. 

North Side, Patricia Ebanks, 516-4349. 

Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, Georgene Lazzari, 948-0343.