West Bay South has passed Bodden Town East as the constituency with the highest number of registered voters, based on the revised electors list published by the Elections Office.
The constituency now has 1,772 registered voters as of the close of the recent registration exercise, which is up from 1,585, representing almost 12% growth.
Growth across all islands
Elections Supervisor Wesley Howell, speaking with the Cayman Compass at the start of the claims-and-objections period for the revised list, which was published 29 Jan., said that based on the numbers, there are three electoral districts that have crossed the 1,700-voter mark with a total of 25,687 people now registered across all three islands.
“West Bay South is currently the largest electoral district, recording over 230 new voters being registered since the last list that was used for the [2021] general election. Of significance, in terms of percentages, East End is up by just over 25% new voters going from 800 to over 1,000. [The increase] has been across all three islands and it’s great to see that participation of the voters,” he said.
Bodden Town East and Bodden Town West are the other constituencies totalling more than 1,700 voters, with the former increasing from 1,666 to 1,765, and the latter from 1,610 to 1,744, according to the revised list.
Howell said he was pleased to see the overall growth in registration exceeded his expectations.
“I was expecting around 25,000, but to have almost 26,000 voters was actually a bit of a pleasant surprise,” he said, adding that over 3,000 applications of various forms have been processed, resulting in 1,858 new voters being added to the register since 1 Oct.
“ I am excited about the younger voters coming on. We’ve seen some good traction from them. The demographics were spread across all age groups and both sexes.”
Howell said the Elections Office is still crunching the numbers on the revised list and updated statistics should be released soon. However, he added that the list is not official until 1 April so analysis will have to be revised before publication.
Call for scrutiny
Though registration is over, Howell said the work ahead for the Elections Office continues, with the public now invited to scrutinise the list.
“We have the process for claims and objections, which is open for 21 days, closing on the 29 Feb. so we might have some adjustments to that [list’s] number,” Howell said.
Elections Office staff have already sorting and categorising thousands of forms – for change of address and new registrations – by constituency for the claims-and-objection period.
Howell said it important the public look at the list and check for accuracy when it comes to the spelling of their names and confirmation of their addresses.
“A claim is what you can file if your information is incorrect or missing. If you’re objecting to someone who you think is somewhere that [they] shouldn’t be … or shouldn’t be on there at all, then you [fill out] an objection form,” he explained.
Of critical importance, he said, is looking out for names that may be questionable within their community.
“If you’re a registered voter in an electoral district and you notice someone on the register who is registered in that district but you know for a fact that they don’t live there, then you can … raise an objection. That’s a formal document that you … send in to us,” Howell said.
That form is then presented to the chief magistrate, as the revising officer, who would then decide how to deal with that particular case.
Last month, the Elections Office said it “heightened” its vigilance in verifying voter-registration and change-of-circumstances forms after claims of attempts by some people to fraudulently vote in districts where they do not reside.
Those forms are all available online, in hard copy at the Elections Office and in Cayman Brac. The deadline for claims and objections is 19 Feb., after which they will be processed and sent to the chief magistrate.
The Elections Office will then publish the official electors list on 1 April which will be used for the 30 April general election.
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