Election Day might be just over a week away, but for 1,500 Caymanians, voting will begin Tuesday.
A record number of electors registered for mobile voting and will begin casting their ballots Tuesday.
Combined with a record-setting number of postal votes, more than 2,500 people will have already voted by the time polls open on 30 April.
Elections Office staff have been working around the clock over the Easter holiday to process postal ballots and to prepare for mobile voting this week. Anyone who has applied for a mobile vote should receive a confirmation call by at least the day before they are scheduled to vote.
The Elections Office is setting up mobile polling stations at districts across the islands over the next few days. For those confined to their homes through illness or disability, elections officials will visit them at their residence.
Constituents in Bodden Town West, Bodden Town East, Savannah, Newlands and Prospect will be first to vote Tuesday. A full list of locations and dates for mobile voting, which runs through Friday this week, is available here. Polling hours for mobile voting will be between 8am and 1pm.
Elections Supervisor Wesley Howell said the take-up for both postal and mobile voting had been double what it was at the last election. The deadline for both was Thursday night – ahead of a four-day weekend.
“The volumes of postal and mobile applications were very high for this election and referendum,” Howell said. “We expected a 10-20% increase in postal and mobile – within the same percentage that the voter list grew. However, the increase was near 100%.”
A total of 1,036 postal ballots were issued this year compared with 582 in 2021. The total number of mobile vote applications received was 1,500, compared with 719 in 2021.
Howell said his staff had worked throughout the holidays, processing applications, calling applicants and confirming locations for those who had requested home or hospital voting because of ill health. Up to Monday night, they were still calling mobile voter applicants to confirm they had been approved.
Mobile voting is an option under the Elections Act that allows eligible electors to vote in advance, either at a designated mobile voting location or at their residence or other location, depending on their circumstances. It is an option for anyone who is away on the day of the election or who has to work or will otherwise struggle to make it to the polls.
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