The 2025 general election will use constituency boundaries set 10 years ago after Parliament for the second time rejected changes recommended by the Electoral Boundary Commission.
The Cayman Islands Constitution requires that those boundaries are reviewed every eight years, to make sure that constituencies remain broadly equal in size in spite of movement in population, and that votes are given equal weight in elections, no matter where they are cast.
The Electoral Boundary Commission Report 2023 which was completed after public consultations, suggested adjustments to 15 constituencies in West Bay, George Town, North Side, East End and the Sister Islands.
It also offered two options for adjustments to Bodden Town – one solution with four constituencies (Bodden Town East and West, Newlands and Savannah) as it currently has, and a second map with five constituencies.
The commission also recommended renaming some districts, so, for example, West Bay North would become West Bay 1, West Bay West to West Bay 2, West Bay Central to West Bay 3, and West Bay South to West Bay 4.
However, these recommendations have now been twice rejected by Parliament, once in July and again in this current parliamentary session.
According to the Constitution, if the first draft order to accept the recommendations of the Electoral Boundary Commission fails, the premier must present an amended plan, which Juliana O’Connor-Connolly did on Friday, on the first day of the new parliamentary sitting.
‘Risk of confusion’
However, while fulfilling her constitutional obligations to present the Cayman Islands Constitution – Electoral District Boundaries Order, 2025, the premier said, “The timing of any electoral boundaries adjustment is a matter of critical importance. We are now less than 90 days away from a general election, a pivotal movement for our democracy.
“Any substantive modifications to electoral boundaries at this stage … would risk engendering confusion among the electorate, particularly among those segments of our population that may already exhibit lower levels of electoral engagement.”
It is not clear why the boundary changes were rejected the first time. On delivering the report, the commission said it “provides a review of the current electoral boundaries, offers recommendations for change, aiming to ensure an equal number of people qualified to be registered as electors in each constituency, as much as possible.”
The recommendations were delivered in August 2023 but a decision was not made by Cabinet until June 2024. The then-opposition leader Roy McTaggart had raised concerns in May last year that there would not be enough time to implement any changes before the 2025 general election.
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Am I missing something when I read the Constitution requires that constituencies remain broadly equal in “size”, should they not be broadly equal in their number of voters?. I recall independent observers attending our past elections have recommended this on a number of occasions. Why are we dragging our feet on this important matter?.