Elections Office aims for access all voters

(CNS): The Cayman Islands can usually count on a very good turn out for its general elections and the Elections Office is working on making sure that in 2009 no one misses the chance to vote for their legislative representatives and in the Referendum for the new constitution. Aside from voters who will go tot he polls in person the office also has to make provisions for those that are absent from the islands on the day of the poll as well as those who are housebound or unable to make it to their local station, to exercise their franchise.

Registered voters can use an absentee or postal ballots to vote in both the General and the Constitutional Referendum which takes place the same day. Constitutional Review Secretariat Director Suzanne Bothwell said she encouraged all voters to make full use of these provisions. “It is important that electors are aware of the options available so that they can exercise their right to vote in the historic referendum, in addition to the national elections,” she said.

Mobile polling stations will also be used for the first time in the Cayman Islands, specifically for those unable to attend fixed polling stations and will offer those unable to make it to the polls under their own steam the opportunity to exercise their democratic right this May.

Anyone intending to vote by postal ballot in either the National Elections or the Constitutional Referendum, or requiring the services of a mobile polling station needs to apply in advance and time is running out. Completed application forms for both the postal ballots and the mobile stations should be returned to the registering officers of electoral districts as soon as possible.  These forms can only be accepted until Thursday, 7 May 2009 (12 days before polling day).

Persons applying for postal ballots must each complete two copies of Form B, one for the election and the other for the referendum. Likewise, persons applying for mobile voting must complete two copies of Form BA, one for the election and one for the referendum. 

Postal ballots may be obtained from, and be hand-delivered when complete to, respective registering officers.  They may also be hand-delivered to the Elections Office at The Professional Centre, 150 Smith Road, or mailed to the Elections Office, PO Box 10120, Grand Cayman KY1-1001.  

The first issue of postal ballots will be sent by Wednesday, 1 April. District Returning Officers will send them to applicants by registered mail. Voters should complete their ballots and return them by regular post, or by courier. A postal ballot will be accepted by a Returning Officer until the close of polls on Election Day (20 May).

For mobile station voters, the Elections Office will publish the list of all applicants and by 7 May 2009 a schedule for mobile stations in each district will be published. 

Grand Cayman’s Registering Officers are as follows:

West Bay: Mrs. Darlene Owens-Elliott, 916-4402

George Town: Ms Kathryn Myles, 916-2117

Bodden Town: Mrs. Kerry Nixon, 916-4478

East End: Mrs. Vernicia Watler, 916-4647

North Side: Ms Esther Patricia Ebanks, 916-4349

Cayman Brac and Little Cayman – Georgina Lazzari, 948 0343

For more information on the constitution review process, contact the Constitutional Review Secretariat in Elizabethan Square, or call -244-3605, or visit its website, www.constitution.gov.ky.

For more information on the National Elections, contact the Elections Office on weekdays in person at The Professional Centre on Smith Road, George Town between 8:30am and 5:00pm, or call 949-8047. The public may also e-mail the office at elections@electionsoffice.ky, or visit its website: www.electionsoffice.ky