Requirements for candidates’ citizenship and residence were emphasised by election officials Wednesday in advance of nomination day on 27 March.
Supervisor of Elections Kearney Gomez called a media conference specifically to address the issue of qualifications to be a candidate for election to the Cayman Islands Legislative Assembly. Those qualifications are listed in section 62 of Cayman’s 2009 Constitution. Equally important are the reasons for disqualification, as set out in section 63.
Deputy Supervisor of Elections Orrett Connor urged potential candidates and their supporters to study these sections and make sure a person is duly qualified before being nominated. “We have seen incidents in the Caribbean where there are challenges to candidacy once someone is elected and we have seen how disruptive it can be,” Mr. Connor said.
There are legal remedies if an unqualified or disqualified person is nominated, he assured, but it is better to avoid such situations. He said in the past few weeks several individuals had put themselves forward as potential candidates; however, a person becomes a candidate only when officially nominated.
Two primary issues that may affect potential candidates are residence and the question of holding another citizenship, Mr. Connor said.
For example, the person must be Caymanian, must be a qualified citizen and, on the date of nomination, must be domiciled and resident in the Cayman Islands. The period of residency differs for someone born in Cayman and someone born outside the Cayman islands. In either case, however, in the seven years preceding nomination, the days the person was absent from the Cayman Islands cannot exceed 400.
Absences are disregarded for the following reasons: performance of duty on behalf of government; attendance as a student at an educational establishment; attendance as a patient in a medical institution; employment as a seaman on an ocean-going vessel or as a crew member on any aircraft.
A qualified citizen is a British Overseas Territories citizen by virtue of a connection with the Cayman Islands. A Cayman passport establishes that a person is a BOT citizen.
On the question of citizenship in another country, the Constitution states: “No person shall be qualified to be elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly who is, by virtue of his or her own act, under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power or state”.
The key phrase, Mr. Connor said, is “by virtue of his or her own act”. He gave as an example applying to that country for a passport at age of majority. Other reasons for disqualification include holding or acting in any public office; serving a sentence exceeding 12 months; conviction for an offence involving dishonesty; being a party to a contract with government without having such interest published in a government notice.
Mr. Gomez said an election offence makes a person ineligible to seek office for five years.
Anyone who consents to being nominated knowing he is not qualified is guilty of an offence. Anyone who nominates a candidate and is not a registered elector of that district, or who knows that the nominated person is not qualified, also commits an offence.
For more on the upcoming election, please click here.
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