Election writs issued

(CNS): Cayman Islands Governor Duncan Taylor issued the election writs to the sixreturning officers Wednesday, triggering the official start of the election calendar. The five men and one woman are officially responsible for conducting May’s national vote in each of their respective districts, including checking the accuracy of the electors' register, managing the nomination process and ultimately returning the elected candidates. Taylor said that in the same way he had remained confident that government would amend the necessary legislation in time, he was confident the officers would ensure the election was well organised and fair.

The governor said the election was an exciting time and was the “very cornerstone of democracy” when voters in Cayman will have their say.

The governor made no mention of this week’s turn of events and the arrest under the anti-corruption law of the current Cayman Islands premier, McKeeva Bush, who had been released on police bail just before the writs were issued after two days of questioning.

Kearney Gomez, the supervisor of elections, described the May 2013 election as his "swan song" as it would be his last, but he said it was going to be “a very serious election” and everyone would need to be “on their ps and qs”, ensuring that candidates are familiar with all of the relevant laws, including the anti-corruption legislation.

He said he had every confidence in the returning officers, who were all veterans. Gomez noted that that the team had run many elections, several by-elections and two referendums. He was positive that this one would run smoothly too but said there was a lot of hard work ahead.

The five men and women who will be managing elections in the districts are all veterans of the process, though Philip Martin Jackson, the new returning officer in East End, and Ned Solomon in Bodden Town previously served as deputy returning officers. Meanwhile, Philip Barnes, Delano Solomon, Dave Tatum and Jennifer Kaufman are all old hands and have served as returning officers in the referendums and previous elections.

The issuing of the writs formally launches the election preparations and confirms exactly how many people will be returned in each district. That significant detail was only confirmed on Monday evening when government finally brought the elections amendment law to the Legislative Assembly to change the number of candidates to be returned in George Town from four to a whopping six members, and in Bodden Town from three to four. For the first time in history the premier’s district will have less influence on government than the capital, and Bush made it clear he was not happy about it.

Nevertheless, the amendment passed through the house on Monday hours before the premier was taken into police custody, and then published in the government gazette on Wednesday.

The next most significant date on the election calendar for the public is 2nd January, which is the last day those who are entitled to vote can put their names on the register. The Legislative Assembly will be dissolved on 26th March and nomination day will take place on 27th March, when all of the candidates planning to fight for a seat in the country’s parliament will formally declare their hand. The campaign will then begin in earnest leading up to Election Day on 22 May.