The ‘grey vote’ could swing the next election in Cayman, new figures suggest.
Shifting demographics mean there has been a surge in older voters since the last national poll.
The average voter is 53 years old, and the largest single voting bloc is now the 55-64 age group. Women also outnumber men on the electoral roll by a significant margin.
The data, from the Elections Office, could have significant implications for candidates putting together policy platforms ahead of the 2025 General Election.
While employment, development and immigration always feature high in debates, healthcare and retirement benefits are key concerns globally for older voters, and could play a larger role in Cayman this time around.
Conversely, plummeting numbers of youth voters could mean issues like climate change and access to affordable housing – which tend to matter more to Millennials and Gen Z college graduates – could play less of a decisive role at the polls.
Cayman lacks systematic public polling data to determine if those patterns would hold true here. And research in the UK suggests that for some, older voters are flipping generational norms by voting altruistically.
Research from the Nuffield Politics Research Centre and the Resolution Foundation in the UK, shows that a significant number of older voters are motivated to vote on issues like vocational training and childcare because of concerns about the financial struggles of younger family members.
Study author Zack Grant coined the term ‘family fortunes’ voters to describe this group, suggesting they could play a key role in the UK general election.
“Family Fortunes Voters are a substantial ‘hidden electorate’ who look set to reward parties that improve the living standards of their loved ones, and reject those which do not.”
What the numbers show
In the absence of similar research in Cayman, current and budding politicians can look only to the raw demographics provided by the Elections Office.
And the latest breakdown of age, gender and district on the current electoral roll, shows the 55-64 age group now comprise the largest voting bloc in Cayman, with a more than 14% increase in their numbers since the 2021 poll.
At the same time, low registration numbers among young people are a growing concern for election officials, with the totals to date for 24-and-under voters almost 200 fewer than at this time in 2020.
“Less than half of the young people who are eligible to be registered as electors are actually registered,” Elections Supervisor Wesley Howell told the Cayman Compass, and the lack of registrations is posing a challenge.
In the 2021 elections, there were 1,590 registered voters in the 24-and-under age group. As of the 1 April 2024 register of electors, there are only 875 voters registered in this age group.
“That’s the lowest area [of voters], the 18 to 25 age group. Arguably, they’re the most impacted by the elections because it does impact their future for a longer period of time,” Howell said.
Cayman’s largest voting age group as of 1 April was the 55-64 category with 5,336 registered electors in that demographic.
It was followed by the 45-54 age group with 4,676 registered voters.
Female voters still outpace males with 12,701 women compared to 10,769 men registered to vote as of the latest electoral roll.
Howell said registrations are usually slow this far out from an election, but he expects that to change in the second half of the year, “when we will do our voter registration drives, expecting the last day for registration to be somewhere mid January of 2025”, he said.
Targeted approach needed for youth voters
Historically, the strongest voting pool has been the older population, but Howell said he is hoping to motivate Cayman’s youth to get involved in the electoral process.
“We will be doing some special targeted work and initiatives to get them out to register to vote,” he said, including door-to-door efforts.
He said candidates and their campaign teams also assist in driving registrations, and he expects that to continue this year.
Howell agreed that the young people have been slow to register and he attributes this in part to them not wanting to be part of the jury pool.
However, he said, if people want to have a say in who shapes policies and laws, they need to participate in the electoral process.
Voting on referendums seems to interest young people more than voting for candidates, he noted.
“When things like referendums come around… we tend to see a lot more young people registering for that, so they’re not as interested in the politics of candidates, but they are in relation to the referendum issues,” he said.
Howell said he also intends to increase voter participation from overseas Caymanian students overseas.
The voter list that will be used for the 2025 general election will be published on 1 April 2025. Anyone who turns 18 on or before polling day, expected to be 14 April 2025, will be eligible to register to vote.
Cayman’s general election date is projected to be Wednesday, 16 April 2025, with Nominations Day on Friday, 28 Feb. 2025.
These dates are based on the timelines following the 2021 general elections, with the formal dates still subject to the premier’s decision on when she opts to call the polls.
The issuing of writs for election is tentatively set for Wednesday, 11 Dec. 2024 with the dissolution of Parliament on 16 Feb. 2025.
To register to vote an individual must complete a form and submit the required original documents to the registering officer for their district or to the Elections Office.
Required documents to register
If you are a CAYMANIAN STATUS HOLDER: (Items # 1 and 4 on the Form 4 application.)
1) Birth Certificate
2) Caymanian Status Certificate /Letter.3) Photo ID: Passport or Drivers License
If you are CAYMANIAN BORN AND HAVE CAYMANIAN PARENT/S OR GRANDPARENT:
1) Birth Certificate of applicant, if born in the Islands, and
2) Birth Certificate of one of the applicant parents or grandparents that was born in the Islands3) Photo ID: Passport or Drivers License
If you are CAYMANIAN with an ACKNOWLEDGEMENT LETTER from Immigration or WORC:
1) Birth Certificate of applicant
2) Acknowledgement letter from WORC/Immigration3) Photo ID: Passport or Drivers Licence
For more information on registering to vote, go to the Elections Office website.
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