Election investigation closed
(CNS):Two years after it was opened, the RCIPS has now confirmed that the investigation into voting irregularities at polling booths on General Election Day in May 2009 has been closed. A police spokesperson said that no charges would be brought as there was “insufficient evidence” to support them. The investigation was started as a result of reports first made at the George Town Primary School polling station that some UDP supporters were handing out small slips or cards to voters directing them to vote for the four UDP candidates running in the capital’s district. As handing out any material that could be seen as influencing a voter on the Election Day itself is illegal, the police were asked to investigate.
Reports of irregularities were also made at polling stations in Prospect and West Bay, which, it was confirmed at the time by the Elections Office, suggested some political party volunteers may have been attempting to unduly influence voters. Election officials also reported that some voters had gone inside the polling stations holding the cards, and when asked where they came from, they indicated that they had just been given to them outside by UDP representatives.
Field agents representing other candidates in the area as well as voters and other candidates, including PPM George Town representative Alden McLaughlin, all said they had seen the cards, which were the size of a normal business card.
Furhter allegations were made by a number of observers that it was some of the George Town candidates themselves who had given the cards to their representatives at the tent to hand out to voters as they arrived. Election officials and the police were called to the polling station and an election office base was established by the election agent’s tents.
At the time Jonathan Piercy, one of the UDP’s four George Town candidates, said the accusations were merely hearsay and there was no proof that any had been given out by their people on Election Day as the cards had been in circulation for about a week.
Although candidates from both parties and the independents are allowed by law to have their representatives near the polling stations on Election Day, it is illegal to campaign or influence voters in anyway.
According to Section 92 (3) of the Elections Law, on polling day candidates are not allowed to publish any printed material which invites or induces the public to vote for a particular candidate or group of candidates and anyone contravening this section is liable to a fine of up to $500 or six months in prison. The question of undue influence, however, could also give rise to a more serious question of whether the vote and ultimately the result would be unfairly influenced.
Following the election in the first sitting of the new parliament on 27 May, Alden McLaughlin, a member for George Town who is now opposition leader, said he had seen the cards being given out.
“I sat in my car and asked a supporter of ours to attend the UDP tent, where she was handed (this) card with the four UDP candidates and their numbers and she was encouraged to vote for these four,” he said showing one of the cards to his legislative colleagues. “This is a pre-printed card, a clear indication of an organised effort to influence voters. We have a duty as candidates … to be sure that this kind of behaviour does not creep in and undermine the election processes.”
McLaughlin did state, however, that he did not believe the cards had necessarily impacted the vote.
Category: Politics
This is what makes Cayman a third world country. A third world Banana Republic is better of than us…at least they have food to eat, if no work!
I would love to hear what exactly would be considered sufficient evidence.
What a farce and typical of what goes on here during elections.Is giving "gifts"prior to an election considered corruption?Oh my oh my.I dont know how some of you can sleep at nite.Is the Brac now taken care of?Time will tell on that one.
It took RCIPS two years to investigate something like this where evidence literally slapped them in the face and what was the result, case closed due to lack of evidence. What?! Sorry RCIPS but you all are incompentent (not all of the officers) and probably can't even solve a puzzle much less a simple case as this. Make it have been a little man on the corner taking a spiff of Ganja, minding his business and see how quick they'll bail out the station(s) in droves to apprehend him, with guns, dogs and chopper hoovering over head. Better yet, try going 2 miles over the prescribe speed limit or you having an expired coupon and see how quick they'll chase you done to give a ticket. It is sad though that the Election office has heard of voters being intimidated or I should say solicitation was going on and didn't do a doggone thing about it. I wonder what would have happen of an Independant or an PPM candidate(s) agent(s) did the samething? I guess they'll be locked up in her majesty hotel (prison) today for 100 years.. The law only applies to a few and the others with all evidence pouring like rain ends up getting a slap on the wrist. Well, there goes another case involving this particular political party gone unpunished, but there's going to be a day of judgment come May 20th 2013, where the voters will the judge, jury and executioner.
Could you at least provide documentation or evidence so we can affirm that those police officers you are talking about, are UDP supporters? And secondly, you haven't post anything to show that the case was closed for some other reason than insufficient evidence, could you not at least make a claim that you have some sort of evidence to prove it was closed because of political influence?
I am sorry, I am one of those who just like to follow the facts and my common sense.
How much more evidence do you and the police want?? A bloody confession by the perps?? They had eye witness accounts, statements, photos, the slips of paper, and the police even saw for themselves!!!
Common sense should tell you (a) that there was plenty of evidence in the form of the physical evidence of the cards themselves, eyewitness testimony, photographic evidence and direct testimony ofpersons who directly experienced being solicited in this way, and (b) the matter actually required very little investigation and certainly did not require two years of it. The rest is reasonable inference based on past conduct of such matters.
If you follow the facts and your commonsense you cannot come to the conclusion that this was a bona fide investigation which failed for want of evidence.
You lop-sided guys don't know what you're talking about. PPM were looking for votes just like UDP, trying to influence people to vote thier way. So don't make this look like its all UDP.
Hey Chris (as if we really believe your name is Chris, yeah right!), PPM was not handing out pieces of paper with their candidates names on it like the UDP was doing, so YES this is "all UDP" XXXX but we expect no better from the UDP!
This is election fraud, if the UDP can get away with this then what else do they get away with? Never mind, we already know the answer! But really, how do they get away with this (& the BT election scandal, & the ……… etc. etc?), you get the picture!
So basically it was illegal but leadership "belives" its O.K.
Its not cheating if you can't get arrested.
Its not illegal for leadership and their tribes.
This is a third world country.
I did not expect anything dfferent, what a dirty world we live in (in Cayman). I reported suspicious activity at the polling booth at GT Primary & actually took a police officer & an election official to the woman who had a purse containing the pieces of paper with names on it (all UDP GT candiates of course), but they did nothing about it! They let her go! The same dirty behavior was happening at Prospect Primary & other polling booths & was allowed to continue despite complaints, so why would I expect anything to be done now? Never mind, their dirty ways will soon catch up with them, their days are numbered (they cannot get away with it forever)
Credit where credit is due … it is in the upper league of the third world with a pretty convincing real world curtain draped across as a thin disguise.
I mean, it is not as if we are living in a country like Cuba where Che Guevara made himself minister of finance and then put his signature on all the money after that!
Anon 11:05, sounds very similar to Cayman. Just change the name Che Guevara & it would be the very same story in Cayman where the dictator made himself minister of finance & then put his signature on all the money after that! Oh my bad, that is exactly what you were implying! We might a well be living in Cuba, GOD forbid! To me this government (UDP) is no better than Cuba.
It is very offensive that you compare intelligent and pure socialists such as Che or Fidel for that matter to our Premier. A better comparison would be Ferdinand Marcos or Alberto Fujimori.
It is ironic how much time and effort goes into the detailed discussion of the constitution and really the enforcement of law and order seems to be very selective in this country.
You hear all the time about the laws being in place but remain unenforced.
The civil servants caught stealing gas were not charged, the election laws are ignored. No wonder young people growing up here do whatever they want. Speed limit laws forget about it. teenager hit and kill someone with a car, slap on the wrist, teenager rob a store with a machete, slap on the wrist.
This is a country with many 1st world amenities with a 3rd world view of the legal system.
Another example of, at the very least, gross incompetence….what with the printed evidence and witnesses!
Or something much worse…."Corruption"?….oh no, Cayman is a Christian Nation…. it's even written in the "Modernised Constitution".
And the Police took two years to "investigate" this? Two years?
I have an idea. How about lets ask the UDP if the slips were being handed out. That would give us a very good idea of just how capable they are of telling the truth.
That’s brilliant!
that question should be asked over and over until they answer it.
But it isn't illegal if it part of a "scheme" or a "plan" or if it saves money.
There was nothing to investigate. The evidence is right there for all to see. It took them two years to deside whether to lie in their own interests or tell the truth. That is a much more complicated matter.
Insufficient evidence, perhaps for a different reason, is why any jackass can rob a bank in Cayman nowadays and get away with it.
My friend, you've hit the nail on the head. The sad part is that you all allow it to contnue. there are sanctions to be brought for this sort of behaviour, it just requires someone with the balls (he or she) to do it. As long as you all allo it to continue, it will continue.
The RCIPS found insufficient evidence? What a shocker.
Well folks this was just another isolated incident so we conducted a strategic overview of this alleged breach of the Election law and found absolutely no evidence whatsoever that it did not happen and because i want to keep my gowerment job and present position and big time salary, i hereby deem this matter to be now Closed. Now stop bring it up before you get arrested for disturbing us and the UDP ya hear me this is you final and only warning.
It is not clear to me what purpose the election office serves. The police and the courts have failed us.
again,,,and again….and again—-and again;;;;and again'''' BUT, the good thing is that there are some people that they have not failed
So 14:16: even if there is no evidence you want them to charge someone. Are you living in the Islamic Republic of IRAN? Should they manufacture evidence? Its so pitiful that people would want the police to place a charge without evidence. I thought we were a civilised country? Anyone can make an allegation. They could accuse you of rape tomorrow and i guarantee that many posters would jump on bandwagon and start pointing accusing fingers at the police and the Government as if they had witness the event. "Small Town vibes" everything and anything is news. More than once I was present at events and when they were reported people came on line and you would sware that they were there on the spot, with the graphic description they gave. Boy-Oh-Boy
No Evidence!!! Where have you been living?? Photos, actual slips of paper, eye witness accounts by members of the public, candidates, elections officials, and police themselves!! Wha you mean No Evidence?? What a @#$@*&! banana republic this place has become!
All i have to say this is Rudickulus and ludacrus the RCIPS claims say they changing policy, how much is that going to cost$$$$$$$$ now! What they need is a change in leadership which would cost nothing.
I bet you if the person handing out those voter cards had a single ganja spliff or his car registration was expired they would be on him like white on rice and they would be buried underneath the jail.What with all these foreign officers in the RCIPS.
It is funny you talk about foreign officers. XXXX I saw an Indian police officer at the airport and I approached him. I asked him "Did you apply for this job from India or did you apply when you were here?"
He seemed a little put out but answered me anyway. He told me that he had applied while he was already here. So here we have a foreigner who probably camehere on some kind of hospitality/service permit and then applies for a job in RCIPS and is SUCCESSFUL! Yet we have Caymanians who cannot get jobs and now apparently that extends to their OWN police force.
I am beginning to believe that there has been a systematic, devious and calculated operation to marginalize the Caymanians in their own country. It is a disgrace and if I was a Caymanian, which I am not, I would be phoning Alden McLaughlin (I wouldn't bother with Bush) and finding out what the hell is going on.
To rub salt into the wound, I had the misfortune to be arrested last year over a traffic offence and I was held in the cells overnight. The police officer in charge was a Filipino for God's sake! He was the coldest, most heartless officer I have ever had the misfortune of meeting and he treated the Caymanians like dirt in their own country.
Personally, I think its too late as people in high places are making judgement calls that they have been told to do, and we all know that money talks. I am not going to finish this with God bless us, rather God help us.
one. don't spout off about people can't get a job. Do you knowa caymanian that wants to be a cop but can't? if not, then what are you talking about.
two. nice going on spending the night in jail. all the filipinos I know are quite nice. Did you ask the cop to read you a bed time story….oops, I forgot…you were arrested and being held in jail. I hate it when i'm arrested and then the cops make it an unpleasant experience on top of that!
three. I thought you weren't caymanian. what's this about being treated like dirt?
I know what you mean i love it when i get pulled over while DUI thinking not a night in the cells, when i realise the office is a caymanian brother and he stops for a chat then lets me go.
I hate those furiner officers how arrest us caymanians in our own country, we can do what we want here!
And filipinos we are so superior to them how dare they arrest us
Nice try at a bit of divisive politics. Even a little bit of deflection too.
My advice – keep wearing the foil hat outdoors, it is getting hotter by the day!
I could have guessed — you were on the wrong side of the law, got caught and dealt with like a criminal? You have no case for civil action, which means the officer acted within the rule of law.
Stop hating and get on with your life, strive to be a law-abiding resident/citizen. The Filipino officer was only doing his job. I pray that you will observe the laws of this land and trust that our officers are not disheartened by criminals' hatred.
So here we have….Just another example of someone who has filled in the blanks and made someone else look bad just so he could look good. A successful business must have employees who are skilled, experianced, and will show up for work. A non successful business will hire for name, family, and nationality over skill, and experiance. The CIG is a perfect example of this. Non sustainable! Non functioning! In Cayman a Disgrace means something very different than in a developed country right?
Do you speak any of the languages or dialects spoken in India? The Officer you met at the airport may be one of the few persons on earth with fluency in 10 of the 100+ Indian dialects plus Hindi.
If you know one Caymanian without a conviction that needs to be a police officer, please ask him/her to give the training department a call.
Why are you angry with the Pilipino Officer? Do you think he should allow you to continue driving in the drunken state you were in? Heaven NO! YOU’RE GOING TO JAIL!
Thats is diluted with misrepresentation. No phillipenes Police Officer have any supervisory post in the RCIPS. You are right you are not from here so that why you are putting this michief online. There are less than 5 such officers in the RCIP and none hold supervisory position. I will let you know That I would know. Trust me on that.
Did any of the Police officers have horns and speak in tongues?
what's that mean about 'all these foreign officers'?
It means 'all these foreign officers'.
It means that there is a language barrier and difficulty with communication.
For instance, a local motorist gets stopped by a foreign police officer.
'How fast were you going?'
'I wuz born ya patna'
'sorry sir, I do not understand, I will write it down on a ticket so that there is no confusion and someone can interpret for you court.'
'Patna' would actually be a Jamaican motorist, cuz.
Thanks rockhead
You're welcome brains.
Yep, furrin offsahs coming here and policing our community without fear and favour, upholding the law with fairness and impartiality.
Serving a community that they are constantly reminded that they do not belong to and for a limited period only!
Who do they think they are coming here and not be unduly beholden to any person?
Tell me what have the furrin offsahs ever done for us?
Yes, they certainly know how to keep order… let's face it, they're the only ones who could in a place like this.
The truth is the foreign officers look out for their own and many have a bad attitude towards Caymanians, your racist post notwithstanding. Nothing fair or impartial.
Who said crime does not pay, it apparently pays quite well in the Cayman Islands. The RCIPS can add this invesigation to the rest of the extensive list of unsolved "matters". They Need to change the wording however from" Insufficient evidence" to TCFPA (Too Complicated for Police Action) this would reflect the true level of incompetencey that exist. Didnt we bring in so called experts from the Caribbean and UK to fix this situation. Outrageous!
TCFPA – so true. ROTFLMAO 🙂
OUDPP – I leave you all to put the pieces together. I will give you one clue. UDP does not earn theirs.
Is this not legal so long as it is more than 100 yds from a polling station?
No, it doesn't matter whether it is at a polling station or not, it is illegal to campaign in any way on election day. This is why all of the elections posters have to be taken down by midnight on the night before. I also saw a bus bringing voters to GHHS with a UDP flag on it and the policeman made the driver take it down. Yes, we have proof of this.
Just read the election law. It has special rules about advertising and media. Is that what this is? Otherwise, electioneering is permitted more than 100 yds form the polling place. I don't think this story accurately states the law.
i think it's that anything is legal, just so it's 100yds from a police station. Yes, I'm sure that's it
Bwoi….if this nah reek of "stacked deck" maneuverings I don't know wha' will.
Tooooo many t'ings jus' get wash wey, maaan.
strange court cases, failed contracts, circumventions of law, closed inwestigashuns!!
Teflon Don has a caribbean twin.
It is practically part of Cayman lore that politicians at election time bring more gifts to voters than Santa Claus at Christmas-time.
It may be just street talk but we hear of appliances being delivered and driveways being paved. (It's always seemed to me that a refrigerator is a very expensive way to buy a vote, but that's just a personal view.)
More seriously, the issue arises in that in my more than 20 years on the island, I cannot recall even one instance of a successful prosecution regarding improper voter influence or fraud, i.e. the "buying" of votes.
I am simply wondering aloud why we even have an Elections Office charged with monitoring our election process if it has never even once discovered anything serious amiss.
If anyone knows of a successful prosecution—or, for that matter, any prosecution at all—in the last 20 or 30 years regarding the improper solicitation or influence of votes, I would appreciate their enlightening all of us CNS readers . . .
It seems to me that the 1972 elections were so rife with hanky-panky, vote buying, and more serious threats of violence that the Chief Administrator Athel Long had a British warship anchor in the harbour as a "reminder" to keep the peace.
My recollection is that the warship was there because certain caymanians were unhappy about the land cadastral survey that was undertaken. I could be wrong. At least Athol Long was a decent governor that could and did make decisions. Something that seems to have been lost by recent governors.
CNS: Can you register please. It's painless, I promise.
Mr. Long still lives in Cayman, is in his 90's and just as astute.
That cadastral survey was accompanied by public demonstrations and a march on the gov't building. Mr. Long dragged |Caymanians kicking and screaming into the 20th C. insisting that they register ownership of their properties, as Caymanian plantocracy was developing and exploiting their lands. Plus ca change, plus la meme chose.
How do you close what was never opened?
Not enough evidence? This is a JOKE!
Exhibit A is right there in the pic. LOL!
Didn't you all even arrest XXXX on the day in question? Hmmm?
There your honor I have proven to you beyond no doubt that the RCIP is guilty of being WOTLESS!
How sad that no one ever seems to be found responsible or held accountable for anything in Cayman.
Politrix 101 Manual reads:
When something happens that enrages the population.
1) Express outrage/agreement/concern and open an "investigation" while people are furious.
2) Build a sufficiently looooong delay into the "investigation" which allows people to calm down or move on to being angry/outraged about something else.
3) Quietly close the "investigation" with no consequences or convictions despite photographic evidence.
AG… zzzzz. Governor… zzzzzz. MacDinejad & UDP… catching the next flight off to some exotic destination to attend an event, shop for new phones or "beg for business".
Nail struck firmly on the head.
BT Elections – AG had option to bring the matter before the courts and instead zzzzzzzzzz. Why? Who knows. Many people talk but why we may never truly know.
GT Elections – CNS can get pictures of evidence but for some reason RCIP can't. Again why? We probably all know.
And our Governor is asleep at the wheel. Does he not see it? Or does he not want to see it? Who knows same results on the ground anyhow.
Facts are UDP are untouchable. They can bend, break or even destroy our laws and no one does anything.
……4) send letters to editors asking for a march, referendum, or petition, move on … just a little bit dirtier
Stick your head aboveparapet…..make sure you raise the issues which need investidagtion…insist that you are only doing the job you were hired to do…make sure that the public know there is a problem…oops back to Canada Mr Doughay…..
UDP on top again looks like Mr Bridger was on to something at the RCIPS it wasn’t the UDP who shut him down?
Historically speaking, it is probably more likely that they shut him UP.
The only thing Bridger was on to was a nice little earner in the sunshine.
There's a big difference between corruption and simple incompetence, which I think this is.
And it was the Governor who shut him down not local politicians.
The amount of money the RCIPS is consuming of our national budget and the return we are getting is a crime in itself, Another prime example of this is with all funds spent on equipment purchase for the Marine Unit including Helicopter and we can only managed to seize 275lbs of drugs. This election investigation fiasco is just another example in the long line of failures by the RCIPS and appears to be a deliberate time delaying strategy it has successful used numerous times to rid itself of political or difficult and troublesome investigations.Closed merely adds insult to injury.
Is anyone surprised? not one single charge? no evidence? whats that in the picture then ? an optical illusion? If it took 2 years to close the investigation can we see a report on what investigative steps where taken? how many people were questions, how many residences were searched, how many statements taken, where did people say they got the cards? where were they printed? This isnt a single victim robbery, the people of GT were robbed and they deserve to know what was done to investigate this.
NOT 1 SINGLE CHARGE??????!!!!!! with all of those witnesses?
this is why Cayman has become so lawless! Look at the example set by our so called leaders!
I'm thinking it has always been 'lawless'. There are just more witness' now. How about the pirates of the panama canal?
RCIPS is always investigating yes investigating what though. Insufficent evidence is always their old reliable excuse for their incompetence. The serious lack of justice on a number serious matters is absolutely incomprehensible. Maybe we should close down the RCIPS and save us a whole heap of money.Yes and send home alot of people that they have employed who are sponging off our little island.
09:29 why don't the police just make up something when a crime is reported and just convict the accused person withoput any evidence.including you or me or your family members or my family members and then throw away the keys and they would please everybody. After all this is Cayman ands we determine what happen here and the news and the blogs would be pleasant to read. Who care about any evidence any way.
A familiar pattern when it comes to the UDP. Long delay in investigation, conclusion of "insufficient" evidence", case closed. Does anyone remember how the Frank McField Affordable Housing scandal played out?
But seriously, the election is long gone, does it make any sense to pursue it! The UDP are in power now.
What?!
Pursue the case, find UDP guilty, and this will cause us paying more money for another election??? It just does not make any sense! The case should have been closed a long time ago, and I personally don't believe that UDP supporters were the ones accused of trying to bypass the election legal process. Rather, it was the PPM for that matter. I personally in George Town saw PPM supporters near the election stations, hanging around and talking to people.
You clearly don't understand what the law says. You are allowed to "hang around" the polling stations. You would be surprised how many people aren't sure where they should vote and have to ask someone to check the register for them. One year my husband and I had been allocated different polling stations and yes, we do live at the same address.
The CRIME occurs when you tell someone who to vote for or give them something in writing ON election day. The UDP in GT were caught doing this and aren't even ashamed of it. Of course it affected the result in GT. Of course no one is going to be punished for it. Allowing candidates to cheat and get away with it in an election puts us on that slippery slope that a lot of other countries are on. We will eventually not have democratic elections if this cheating is not stopped.
you can hang around the court room also
Actually I don't believe anything is wrong with them "saying" who to vote for they simply can not hand out any pre-printed information telling people who to vote for. That I believe is the illegal part.
Sorry but the law applies to spoken as well as written instructions. You cannot (legally)advise/tell someone who to vote for on election day.
The illegal part is that no one is allowed to campaign (in any way) on the day of elections.
You saw PPM members handing out cards in support of UDP Candidates too?
Justice is justice. The law is the law. Should I ask if someone killed a family member of yours but they did not find out who it was for 2 years but suddently located the killer would it be okay to say how did you put it…"the murder (elections you had) is long gone, does it make any sense to pursue it!"
What you and so many of your UDP cronies fail to realise is IT IS THE LAW!!! This is not a selective system where we decide which crimes to pursue and which ones it's okay to get away with. When someone breaks the law they break the law. In this case the law was broken so it HAS TO BE PURSUED.
The only reason the election is "long gone" is because there was inordinate delay in dealing with the matter.
Every prosecution costs the country money. Should we just give up on the rule of law altogether in order to save some money?
That's right – once you are in power you are above the Law. Typical UDP thinking.
I should have added ensure that the wait is long enough so that you can attempt to revise history.
that is a sad and sorry attitude. I wish I was you….blissful