With the 15 Jan. deadline for voter registration fast approaching, Elections Supervisor Wesley Howell is strongly encouraging eligible voters to get their forms in as soon as possible.
“Let’s not wait till 11:59pm tomorrow,” Howell said on Tuesday as he spoke with the Cayman Compass ahead of the final day of voter registration.
Registration for electors to get on the 1 April official list, which will be the list used for the 30 April general election, closes at midnight on Wednesday.
Howell said the Elections Office has already recorded its highest total of registered voters, reaching 24,700 to date, and he said more applications are still coming in.
“I can safely say that the comments around voter apathy isn’t playing out in relation to the interest that we’ve seen with individuals coming forward and registering and updating their information,” Howell said, adding that the increased registration is a positive sign for the polls.
So far, Howell said 1,460 forms have been entered at the Elections Office and more have been coming in via email.
He said individuals either seeking to run for office or those working for the incumbent MPs have been encouraging registrations as well as updating voter information.
“We have seen steady numbers of persons coming in, but we’ve seen more people using the online application and the email of the form and their supporting documents this go around than we did previously. I think it just shows that a lot of folks are much more comfortable using the technology to do their bits, and not necessarily coming out in person,” he said.
Steady numbers
Howell said he was pleased to see the jump in voter applications and overall interest in the electoral process.
“We’re always happy that individuals who have the the right to vote, who have the eligibility to vote, to register to vote, will go out and actually do that, and then we would be looking for them to exercise that right on Election Day once they’re registered,” Howell said.
He said the Elections Office has added some more staff in response to the “significant uptick” in emails.
The additional staff, he said, is going through and logging emails as well as checking to ensure that the documents attached are the correct documents.
“If anything’s missing, we’re following up. So it is taking some time to do that, but we are responding to them very quickly,” he said.
Howell said he is hopeful that the increased electoral roll means more people will come out and cast ballots on 30 April.
Howell said the recent influx of registrations has been a mixture of those who recently became Caymanian and individuals who have been eligible for some period of time and were finally taking the decision to go ahead and register.
He also said there has been “a significant number of young people” registering.
The official demographic profile of the registered voters will not be released until the electoral roll process is completed.
Howell encouraged those who may still be waiting for certain documents from government like their birth certificate or their parents’ birth certificates to go ahead and send in the application with the documents they do have before the deadline.
“We can always work with you to get copies of those documents if we can before we get to the publication of the revised list,” he said, adding, “Please try and get that done before before midnight [Wednesday].”
Howell said the Elections Office will be open from 9am to 7pm Wednesday to accommodate last-minute registrations.
After the midnight deadline on Wednesday, he said, no other forms will be considered for the 1 April list.
Original documents required for registration:
If you are a Caymanian status holder (items #1 and 4 on the Form 4 application):
1) Birth certificate
2) Caymanian status certificate/letter3) Photo ID: passport or driver’s licence
If you are Caymanian born and have Caymanian parent(s) or grandparent(s):
1) Birth certificate of applicant, if born in the islands, and
2) Birth certificate of one of the applicant’s parents or grandparents that was born in the islands3) Photo ID: passport or driver’s 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 driver’s licence
If you have moved locations, changed your name or occupation since being registered, then please complete a Form 13.
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