Booze ban in place for Election Day
(CNS): With the General Election less than one week away, the Elections Office is reminding all liquor licence holders that no alcohol can be sold or given away until 7pm in the evening on Polling Day, an hour after the polls close. This includes bars, restaurants, hotels, duty free stores, as well as local liquor shops. Elections Supervisor Kearney Gomez also reminded employers that they must allow all staff members who are registered voters time off to go to the polls and that all political advertisements and banners and other inducements to vote for a particular candidate or party must be removed by midnight on Tuesday 21 May.
Officials had discussed the possibility of amending the law to allow hotels and restaurants catering to tourists the ability to serve alcohol to guests but the amendment never made it to the floor of the LA. As a result, the blanket booze ban remains in place for 22 May across all three Cayman Islands from 7am till 7pm, if the polls close on time as expected at six o’clock in the evening.
Although Election Day is a public holiday, some people will still be working and Gomez said that employers are lawfully obligated to give their workers a reasonable period for voting. No employer can make any deduction from the pay of any elector or impose a penalty due to their absence as a result of voting.
In addition, Gomez reminded the candidates, their committees and agents that no political advertisements, political broadcasting or political announcements are permitted on Election Day.
“All banners, posters and any other advertising materials must be removed by midnight on Tuesday May 21, 2013. The wearing of clothing which exhibit the image of any candidate or contains any printed statement supporting any candidate or political party will not be allowed within any polling precinct,” he added.
Category: Local News
Is the reason for this law "culture", "heritage" or just general backwardness?
Common sense.
whilst we are on the topic, why does it have to be a pubic holiday? half of the population can not vote, again an old outdated law, why we cant just mandate via a law that any employer must give Caymanians 2-3 hours within the work day to go and vote, not hard to do. the monies lost by companies having to pay double time/ holiday pay must be in the millions .
Or people can just vote during their time like in most of the rest of world.
And………..sex on Sundays could lead to dancing!
The funny thing is that I am always wasted before I vote since I have to drink at home before I leave because the bars are all shut.
Oh hell nah….ban it on the day when most of us will need it?!? SMH
What is the point of this ban? If you don't want to drink on election day then don't but if you want to drink you will just load up on alcohol the day before. Bans like this are so pointless.
Sales spike for the stores and of course, the most important spike, Customs Duty collection from the bonded warehouses. 😉 Ya dig.
Glad I will be off island.
I wish the elections office would go sit down. They have done nothing about the treating I have seen throughout this process and now theyare issuing warnings…puleeeezzzeee
there is a White van that attends certain meetings for a certain NEW Party that is filled with alcohol and the young people are always crowded around the van during the meetings.
The same Group had a party last weekend and because they were told they couldnt "Give Away" liquor they simply handed out $50 to the patrons all night long.
Where was the Elections Office on Friday?
If you see this and have first hand knowledge, instead of the insinuations why not report it properly?
What a pathetic rule.
It is very sensible. Bad enough that some voters are intoxicated with UDP Kool Aid let's not add alcohol on top of it.
Hell naw?!?!?!….Just when I need it the most!!!
Banning the duty free liquor stores at the airport makes no sense! It’s going to leave the island! Our laws lol!
What exactly is the purpose of this law? Why not have breatharlyzer, drug, and IQ tests at the polling stations?
Because it would take too long and it is far better to do it this way.
If they gave IQ tests………
Let me understand this logic… We will inconvenience, and possibly permanently alienate, our hotel visitors so that Mr Kirky will be sober enough not to urinate in the voting booth?
This is an idiodic law, especially as it pertains to duty free. By definition you cannot consume duty free products on Island. What a loss of revenue for the country, and an inconvenience for our ‘coveted’ stay over visitors. It is stupidity personified.
if its duty free, where is the revenue for the country?
Economic activity is much like a row of dominos standing on end. If you fail to knock the first one over none of the others will fall.
If a business losses a day of revenues, they have less capital, they can reinvest fewer dollars, and there are fewer dollars ciculating in the economy. Each of those dollars grows more dollars through consumption of resources and products, all of which directly impact govt. revenues via duty, corporate fees, work permit fees, etc., etc., etc.
One of the greatest ptoblems this Island has faced in recent years is a lack of any basic understanding of macro and microecononics. Instead we have had Mac-don’t -know-no-economics, with a lack of logic which exists in a void of reason, like the above poster. It is an ignorance that truly believes that there can be no loss of revenue from ceasing duty-free commerce if ‘duty-free’ was not, in and of itself, revenue generating.
This is why we need to elect educated leaders, not just blustery mouth pieces that appeal to the ill educated, and gullible.fz
why????
stupid, backward, nonsensical……… just another day in cayman
Stupidity at its highest. Don’t let tourists drink? Oh I’m sure they will rush back!
Everybody is probably going to need a drink the next day.
See you at Rum Point on the boat.. Loads of booze.. Stupid law…
"This includes bars, restaurants, hotels, duty free stores, as well as local liquor shops."
Party at my house $25 all-you-can-drink, let me know what you all want and I will pick it up on Tuesday.
Nice one dinkster.
get me $50 worth of heniken please….
This is absolutely ridiculous in this day and age. This will not affect the residents of the Cayman Islands as we can go to the liquor store the day before. It will however hurt our visitors to the islands and the businesses. They need to get rid of this antiquated law.
Sorry SSM345 to tag on to your reply – the comment box was not available.