Voters to weigh-in on future constituencies
(CNS): Public meetings regarding the changes to the country’s political landscape begin on Monday evening in George Town. The public is being encouraged to meet with representatives of the new Electoral Boundary Commission (EBC) this week to offer opinions and comments on how three extra representatives should be added to the Legislative Assembly and where and how future constituencies should be shaped. George Town residents will have the opportunity to meet and make submissions to the EBC on 26 April, from 7- 9pm at the Mary Miller Memorial Hall, while West Bay residents can meet on Tuesday, 27 April, at the John A. Cumber School Hall also from 7-9pm.
The Commission is chaired by Carl Dundas, with Norman Bodden and Adriannie Webb as members, who will be collating the information they receive in order to begin the work on adding the three new MLA seats as set out under the new Cayman Islands Constitution 2009, changing the representation in the existing electoral districts.
The debate among the country’s political representatives has never been concluded over whether Cayman should switch to single member constituencies or continue with multiple representation and just add the three new seats to the larger existing district constituencies, and the constitution does not order any specific time of representation but leaves the question open to the people.
There are a number of possible changes that could be made to the electoral districts but both sides of the House — UDP and PPM representatives — have been reluctant to commit to single member constituencies.
Once the boundary commission has finished its work it will submit a report to the governor before the end of May. It will then be tabled in the Legislative Assembly, at which point the political debate about the country’s future representation will begin in the parliament.
All registered voters and those who are qualified to be registered are being encouraged to give both written and oral submissions from now until Friday, 7 May. In keeping with the EBC’s approach of transparency the commission prefers to receive signed submissions, but it will also accept anonymous contributions. Written submissions can be mailed to: The Electoral Boundary Commission, c/o Elections Office, P.O. Box 10120, Grand Cayman KY1 -1001, Cayman Islands. They may also be hand-delivered to the Elections Office on the 2nd floor at the Smith Road Centre, 150 Smith Road in George Town or emailed to electionsoffice@candw.ky.
Oral submissions can be made this week and residents can call the Elections Office at 949-8047 for more information.
Vote in the CNS online poll: Do we need three more MLAs?
Category: Local News
This is an interesting article
http://www.royalgazette.com/rg/Article/article.jsp?articleId=7da3fa73003000d§ionId=75
If by "interesting" you mean "irrelevant".
And totally off topic.
THE TWO PARTIES & FCO PLAY GAMES with Human Right
Now, here is a place where our cash strapped Government can save some money.
How many voters are there in the Cayman Islands? As many as 15,000?
This is fewer than in many small towns in most countries. Can those towns
afford an Electoral Boundary Commissionand associated bureaucracy?
For that matter, do the 15,000 voters in Cayman really need 18 MLA’s to represent them, each costing an estimated $300,000, if you include offices, staff, benefits, travel, and perks?
Government has somehow grown itself out of all proportion, and should be looking at the many areas where it can lower its cost
I agree, there are way too many useless MLAs as it is!
Are then any useful ones? I have not spotted any.
To the best of my recollection, the PPM advocated single member constituencies during the last elections and during the discussions on the constitution. If fact, the use of single member constituencies was in the original draft of the new constitution & supported by the NGO’s. It was only removed as a compromise to the UDP. CNS please check your comments.
These are necessary for future development. Since population growth and location changes will be better dealth with by single member constituencies. If an additional member is added to an existing multi-member constituency now, what will happen in the future if the population location shifts so much that that constituency needs to "lose" their extra representative to another constituency. With single member constituencies it would simply be a matter of adjusting the boundaries.
With both political parties reluctant to commit to single member constituencies, why bother with this exercise? Either way, adding three more LA members will add unnecessary costs of running our country.
How about a debate on how to reduce our LA membership by three or more? Several of them are seat warmers and are contributing nothing or adding any value to the political process.
The Commission better look at the breach of the right to vote and participate in elections for a legislature guaranteed to all British citizens which is provided for under the European Convention of Human Rights. In the end London is going to have to change the Constitution to comply with the UK’s obligations.
Hey ole chappi you/they can go back hoe to vote or send in absentee ballot . My gosh child where have you been living?
The legislature in question would be the Cayman Legislative Assembly!