Voters’ Deadline
Supervisor of Elections
Kearney Gomez
Wednesday, June 9, 2004
The 1 July deadline for Caymanian citizens to register to vote in the
upcoming November general election is now only three weeks away.
In an effort to make sure all those eligible to vote do in fact register, the
Elections Office has been conducting special registration sessions in various
locations on Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac.
“In the Cayman Islands, voting is your civic responsibility,” said Supervisor
of the Elections Kearney Gomez in a press release issued on Monday, “Without
participation, the democratic process with disappear.”
Mr Gomez noted that not everybody in the world has the right to vote. “Voting
is therefore a privilege that should be embraced,” he said.
Through 1 April of this year, the Elections Office indicated that 11,504
people were registered to vote, up less than 100 over the figure for the 2000
elections. More people have registered to vote since then, but there are still
many eligible voters who have yet to do so.
“Our goal is to have every eligible person register,” said Rupert McCoy of
the Elections Office, “I don’t know if that’s an attainable goal, but that’s
what we’d like to see.”
The special Saturday registration sessions that will take place between 9 am
and 2 pm on 12, 19 and 26 of June, not only allow new voters to register, but
also for people who are already registered to fill in Form 13 – Notice of Change
if they have changed their names, moved to a different electoral district or
changed occupations.
Mr McCoy said that those that do not file the Notice of Change if required
could have their ballots thrown out if they are challenged after the election.
Those wanting to register or file a Notice of Change can do so at the
Elections Office located on the fifth floor of the Tower Building, or at the
special registration sessions in Grand Cayman at Foster’s Food Fair (The Strand,
Republix and Airport), Hurley’s Marketplace (Eden Centre and Grand Harbour),
Kirk’s Supermarket, and at the Little Savannah sub-division on the corner of
Jayson Avenue and Shamrock Road across from Savannah Meadows.
In Cayman Brac, the sessions only last from 9 am until noon, and will take
place at the KP Tibbetts store in Watering Place on 12 June, at Billy’s Store in
West End on 19 June, and at Market Place in West End on 26 June.
Registration can be done or updated at any of the locations no matter in
which district a voter lives.
Mr Gomez noted that in many places around the world, elections bring
violence, something that does not happen here. “People in Cayman have the right
to vote in a peaceful society, but this is not the case in a number of countries
around the world,” he said. “All eligible Caymanians should embrace their right
to vote in a free and safe society.”
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