Next week Wednesday, 2 August, will markthe 100-day countdown to Election Day - Wednesday, 8 November2000 - to the most important decision Cayman's voting public willmake in the history of theses islands.And Mr. Kearney Gomez, the man who holds the most important seatin the land, to ensure that the democratic process of a free unencumberedprocess is accomplished in good order, in his capacity as Supervisorof Elections.
Mr. Gomez, a veteran civil servant of 26 years joined the ranksof the Lands and Survey Department in 1974 during the era of theRegional Cadastral Survey Project for the Cayman Islands between1971 - 1977. Previously, he spent six years in the private sectorwith a Real Estate firm. He is 50 years old and married to CathyClifford - Gomez for 24 years and they have two children.
At the outset of his appointment, the Lands and Survey Departmentwas in the preliminary stages of setting up its state-of-the-artsystem for Land Registration, "the best we can now boastabout regionally" he said, during an interview with this'holder of many briefs'.
Before the setting up of Lands and Survey Department, there wasa system called "Registration of Conveyances" whichwas managed through the Post Office. Since then Cayman has becomea pioneer for Land Registration in the region and assisted otherCaribbean Islands like Turks & Caicos and Belize in fine tuningtheir own Land Registry.
For the past 20 years, Mr. Gomez has served in the Ministry ofAgriculture, Communications and Environment (ACE) and he is nowthe Permanent Secretary for that Department. In 1980 former Governor,Mr. Peter Lloyd, also appointed him as Supervisor of Elections,a position which he assumes every four years during general elections.His predecessors were well respected men like Mr. Clifton Hunter,Mr. Ernest Panton and Mr. Vernon Jackson.
Mr. Gomez remembers: "Back in 1949 it was a privileged positionand a person had to be a merchant either to vote or hold thatposition." He continued, "Cayman has a very colourfulpast, because back then a person had to pay a stipend to be allowedto vote, yet there was a well structured system with two DemocraticParties; the Christian Democratic Party and the National DemocraticParty. "Interestingly - it was during that same year thatthe women of the Cayman Islands first petitioned the Governorfor voting rights," he confirmed
The Elections office is presently in the process of researchingthe history of elections for the Cayman Islands and preparinga document for publication.
Paying tribute to the local media and the public action committeeswho helped to encourage people to register, he said that he wasquite pleased that there has been an almost 12 percent increasein registered voters. He confirmed that one handicap which discouragedpeople to register - is the fact that the National Census wasbeing conducted at the time his Officers would normally be callingin register to folks.
When asked about the system whereby each elector has multiplevotes - depending on the district in which they are registered,Mr. Gomez said, "Cayman continues to use a multiple "X"voting system, an old colonial type manual system, which remainsin place as a matter of heritage rather than necessity. To putin place an electronic system for counting votes would not onlybe expensive to keep pace with the rapid changes and advancesin computers -- the system would have to be upgraded every fouryears and it simply would not be practical."
"Because it would not only be expensive to upgrade this typeof system every couple of years but it would also take away fromthe people what they enjoy most about the elections, and thatis the counting of the votes. With a computerized vote countingsystem the process would be over within a few minutes after thepolls close" and he continued, "that type system bestserves large populations as the computers now have the capabilitiesto count hundreds of voting ballots within a few seconds."
In terms of Cayman's election process, Mr. Gomez said that theElections office works hand and glove with the Land Registry Officein using very advanced technology through satellite Global PositionSystems(GPS) to plot lots. "In 1996 we introduced our enumerationmaps with assigned polling divisions by incorporating an integratedsystem developed by the Lands and Survey Department, through thiswe have advanced by leaps and bounds," he said. "Wehave a mapping system which shows the street address for everyregistered voter whereby we are able to able to assign each personto their respective polling division and this speeds up the registrationprocess."
Mr. Gomez indicated that his position as Supervisor of Electionsis a very autonomous post as he was appointed by the Governor.He reports to no one. In previous years, at the end of an electionhe presented his report directly to the Governor. Beginning withthe upcoming Election he will be presenting it to the Legislature,and it will be available to the public once it has been tabledin the House.
He stated, "if someone has a grievance that there was someirregularity in the election process, then he would have to filea petition before the court." He continued: "In the20 years that I have been in head of this office, we have nothad one petition." He maintains that most of the credit hasto be given to his staff whom he states "are highly trainedprofessional people but they can be changed at a moments noticedif there is any suspicion of irregularities."
Mr. Gomez stressed the fact that the Election Office operateswith a "full open door policy with the media and the public.We are open to anyone who wishes to come by and observe how theElection process is being conducted. The only part of the entireprocess that is a secret, is the actual voting itself" headded.
During the Election Day there will be 250 election officers working.This includes 90 polling clerks and 45 presiding officers besidesfield officers and the logistics crews. Mr. Gomez states - "Itis incredible the hundreds of man hours that goes on behind thescenes in preparing for an election.
At this time the elections office are preparing for the distributionof postal ballots and the official period of registration hasbeen closed." He maintains, "although I am aware thatthere were many people who did not register, we had to have acut off point unless we would never be ready for the election."
At this time the election office is fully prepared any ready togo. There are 125 women working with the elections office outof the 135 persons who will be visible on election day. He says,"the elections are run predominately by women and we preferto have them in that environment because they are very professional,well disciplined and they have a very calming effect on the entireprocess". He continued by saying, "we are really anticipatingany problems during the elections but there are the normal rulesand laws which we are asking the public to continue to respecton Election Day."
However, as is tradition for Caymanians people will be congregatinguntil after the polls close, while the votes are being talliedand announced after each ballot box is completed. All of thisis controlled at the Command Center in the Tower Building fromwhere the final count will be announced.
How does he maintain control?
Mr. Gomez reaffirms that his able deputies, Chief ImmigrationOfficer, Orret Connor and Director of Public Works, Mr. ColfordScott along with his support staff all make it possible. He isalso proud of the fact that there are others now in training inthe Election Office, who will one day be able to take over theduties from Him and his deputies.
"At the end of the day, we strive to keep everything ...and everyone in order" he says, "because that is whatour islands and our democratic system is all about."