LA waits on governor to form boundary commission

(CNS): Work on the country’s move towards one man, one vote in single member constituencies is expected to begin shortly as the governor is considering a minute from the Legislative Assembly to create a boundary commission. A three man panel consisting of a chair appointed by the governor and a member selected by the opposition and one by government will undertake an assessment of the local political landscape. Given the remit to examine the proposed boundaries for single member constituencies after a government motion debated and passed in September the commission will follow on from the work of the 2010 team and prepare Cayman for the new voting system in time for the 2017 national poll.

It is not bound by a specific number of seats though government has not instructed the commission to increase the membership of the LA. The main goal of the commission is to ensure that the constituencies are similar sizes and that they adhere to historical district boundaries. Although North Side, East End and the two constitutionally mandated constituencies of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman will fall well short of the approximate 1000 or so voters in the other fourteen constituencies’ they are expected to remain as they are.

The other fourteen seats in Bodden Town, George Town and West Bay are expected to broadly follow boundaries of the polling station areas that have been used during the last two elections.
Any significant changes to the current layout of polling stations as the guide to the new landscape are likely to occur on the borders between what was once the George Town constituency boundary and Bodden Town, which remains Cayman’s fastest growing district. 

According to the elections office website the latest official figure on 20 October reveals 18,323 registered voters with Bodden Town now having passed West Bay by around 350 people. However George Town still dominates the voter’s register with 7389 people registered to vote in the capital.