Eligible voters turned out in their numbers at the Elections Office Wednesday to get signed up to cast their ballots in May’s general election.
With documents in hand, first-time voters like Tiffany Jeremiah joined the queue at the office’s Bay Town Plaza headquarters to file the forms required to be added to the Official Register of Electors.
“I think it’s very important that young people have a say in politics,” Jeremiah told the Cayman Compass.
The Elections Office is staying open until 7pm Wednesday, but registrations can be done online till midnight.
Jeremiah said her father, Pastor Michael Jeremiah, encouraged her go to the Elections Office to register and she believes it is an important exercise for every young person.
“With this being my first time voting I was forced to now learn of how our country works and our government works. So that was an opportunity for me to learn,” she said, adding that was important for her as a teacher as well.
She encouraged others to do the same.
“Ignorance is not an excuse to not come out and vote. I mean, yes, it takes some time to really learn and know my districts and everything, and who’s running and know their policies, but it is important and so I would challenge young people to get involved. That’s one way they can make their voices heard,” she said.
People can also email forms and supporting documents to [email protected].
Forms are available online at https://portal.elections.ky/index.php/home/registeration-process
Pastor Michael, of Calgary Baptist Church, said every one in his family is registered to vote and now that his daughter is of age he brought Jeremiah to register.
“I believe it is important that every citizen of a country can express their right to choose their government. I believe it is so important that we have this freedom that we enjoy to vote. Many people in many countries do not have that freedom and that liberty. So I think it is important for young people, particularly, [though] of course all citizens, to take that opportunity in a free democratic country,” he said.
“You have an opportunity to make a difference,” Pastor Michael added.
Sadie Thomas she was happy to take her husband Ainsley to the Elections Office to get him registered to vote.
“I registered many years ago and it’s been a struggle to get him [to], but today we finally did it. He is getting registered to vote,” she said.
Thomas urged others to get signed up.
“If you want your voice to be heard, this is the way you get it heard. You cannot complain about what is happening in your country if you don’t come out and exercise your [civic] right,” she said.
Elections Supervisor Wesley Howell said he was pleased with the interest shown by the public and social activist groups to get people to register.
“We have been busy all week. We have actually been busy since January 4th. To date, just this month alone we have received over 700 forms and we are still entering forms from yesterday. Persons would have registered from October 2nd all the way through to today [Wednesday],” Howell said.
The elections supervisor said his office was closing in on 1,000 new applications that will be added to the 1 April 2020 Official Register of Electors which will be used for the 26 May general election.
He said a number of people have also taken the opportunity to change their name and address on the register.
Angela Sevilla, another first-time voter, said her dad called her to remind to go register.
The process did not take long at the Elections Office, she said.
“I was in and out in five minutes. I was pleased with how fast they were and nice,” Sevilla said.
She said she came Wednesday because it was the last day to register and “I wanted to be able to have a voice in the elections so it was important for me to register.”
She added, “I thought it was funny that our last day to register is the same day as the inauguration of US President Joe Biden and Kamala Harris… It was like a reminder why you should vote.”
Sevilla said she has to return to the office in April to get her photo taken and collect her voter ID.
She said she went at lunchtime and the crowd was “not bad at all”.
“There was a group of people filling out forms, but there was also a lot of Elections Office staff helping people… and telling them what they needed to do,” she said.
Howell said Tuesday the first of three training sessions for elections staff was held.
“What we have is a lot of our staff members were trained up for the referendum back in 2019. So this is a bit of a refresher for them. So we were all geared up for a nomination date on the 31st of March and then we were off to the races in relation to printing ballots and then dispatch,” he said.
He said the training had to be broken up into batches as getting all the staff together at one time along with extra volunteers would have gone over the 500-person limit mandated under COVID-19 suppression limits.
“So we split it up. It also keeps us safer. We’re fairly safe here in Cayman, but we are not completely out of the woods. So we’re [managing] the risk by separating,” he added.
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