With Cayman’s voter registration for the 30 April polls now over, attention will be turning to the next steps in the electoral process ahead of the general election.
The Cayman Compass caught up with Elections Supervisor Wesley Howell to take us through the next steps.
Howell said there is a lot of work ahead for his team, including formalising the official voters list, as they prepare for the general election.
A revised list of electors, which contains a record 25,687 voters, was published on 29 Jan., and will remain “live” for a period of 21 days.
Howell said this is for individuals “to review to make sure that their information is updated and they’re on the list. If they’re not, then there’s a period for claims and objections [so] that we can deal with any of those changes that need to happen.”
He said those changes would include any errors in spelling or address, for example.
If there are alterations to be made, voters can write to the Elections Office, which will then trigger the formal process and those changes would be forwarded to the revising officer – the chief magistrate – who will would make the final ruling.
“Then we’ll publish that list on 1 April,” Howell said.
The 1 April list will be the official list for the 30 April general election.
Electoral process
Before the election, there are several key milestones that have to be met.
One of those important steps will be the dissolving of the current Parliament.
This is when all the business of the House comes to an end and all 19 constituency seats in the House are made vacant.
Howell said, by 24 Feb., the Elections Office will be publishing its notice of nomination, following which Parliament will be dissolved.
“The governor will be dissolving Parliament on 1 March, and then on 3 March, we have Nomination Day,” Howell said.
Parliament is set to meet next on 31 Jan. It is unclear if this will be the final meeting of the legislature before it is dissolved.
Nomination Day is when all candidates seeking office will officially file their papers to contest the general election.
“You have to be nominated on that day. You have to be nominated by two persons who are electors in the electoral district in which you want to be nominated. You don’t necessarily have to be a voter in that electoral district to be a candidate, but you have to satisfy all of the other constitutional requirements for office,” Howell said.
Among those constitutional requirements, candidates must be a Caymanian, over the age of 21 and, at the date of nomination, be domiciled and resident in the Cayman Islands.
Howell advised potential candidates to review the requirements to ensure they are not disqualified from office under the law.
Candidate can be disqualified if a they hold “allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power or state”, hold or act in any public office, or have been convicted of an offence involving dishonesty.
There are other rules for disqualification outlined under the Election Law.
From 1 March to 30 April, Howell said, the Planning Department does not require permission for signs to be erected for election purposes once they satisfy criteria such as setbacks, maximum size and maximum height.
These signs require a minimum setback of 12 feet from road’s edge. The maximum size is 32 square feet and 12 feet high, according to the Planning Department’s Grand Cayman sign guidelines.
Voting process
Howell said the Elections Office will begin sending out postal ballots by 10 March.
“We’re going to be accelerating as we go forward and individuals will then be able to vote from 10 March going forward until 30 April,” Howell said, adding that those who wish to vote by postal ballot can apply to do so by 17 April.
Postal voting is open to people who are registered voters and living off-island, such as students and people away for medical care.
A locally delivered postal ballot can be requested, according to the Elections Office, if a registered voter living in the Cayman Islands will be away from the islands on Election Day and wants to cast his or her ballot.
Mobile voting is also open to those who are unable to physically attend the polls, such as people who may be working for Election Day or homebound people.
“Mobile voting is that we actually bring the polling station to you and people can vote if they’re at home or in a rest home or other places like that. We will actually do the polling in their locations,” Howell said.
Howell issued a caution to voters going to the polls on Election Day about campaigning, saying that there can be no political messaging from the candidates, their parties or their supporters.
“On that day, it’s a clean day from political campaigning and it’s all about voting,” he said, adding that voters cannot enter the polling division wearing campaign-related clothing.
Polls, he said, will open at 7am and close at 6pm.
“When we close the polls, if you’re within the confines of the polling division, you can still vote … If you’re within the [walls] but if you hadn’t entered in at that point, then polls close sharply at 6,” Howell said.
The Elections Office staff, he said, will then transition from polling to counting.
“I project that we’ll have our results done before midnight again as we did in 2021,” he said, adding that the Elections Office will be posting updates on its website throughout the day and during ballot counting.
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