By Alric Lindsay
According to the Cayman Constitution, “Any person who is registered as an elector in an electoral district shall, while so registered, be entitled to vote at any election in that district for an elected member of the Parliament unless he or she is prohibited from so voting by any law in force in the Cayman Islands.” Sadly, the list of registered electors published on the website of the Elections Offices shows that Caymanians under 45 are underrepresented. If this is not improved soon, Cayman’s future policies may not reflect or include the interests of the younger segment of the Caymanian population.
Looking closer at the numbers
Looking at numbers, the Elections Office said that almost 70% of the 23,464 registered voters as of July 1, 2024, are 45 and over. However, this could change if more young Caymanians under 45 decided to register to vote.
Table from Elections Office showing voter age breakdown
Why more young Caymanians are not registering to vote
Concerning the young Caymanians who have not yet registered to vote, several reasons have been cited
- Little or no faith that the political system will ever consider their interests
- General distrust in the Government
- Lack of potential candidates that promote causes important to the youth
- Fear of being selected for jury duty, where jurors are selected from the registered list of electors
Since jury duty is often raised as a reason for not registering to vote, it is useful to explain that process.
The selection process, according to the Judicature Act, is as follows:
- On or before the 1st October in each year the Bailiff shall make an alphabetical list of all persons in the Islands liable to serve on juries with the surnames and other names written in full and with the description and address of each person.
- The Bailiff shall transmit such list to the Clerk of the Court on or before the eleventh day of the said month and such list shall be called the jury list and the names entered therein shall form the panel of jurors.
The Judicature Act added:
At least six weeks before each session of the court, the Clerk of the Court shall take from the jury list the names of not less than one hundred nor more than one hundred and sixty jurors who have not served as jurors in the last six preceding sessions of the court and shall summon them to appear on the day fixed for the next session of the court.
The Bailiff shall serve the summonses issued under section 10 at least twenty-one days before the persons served are required thereby to make appearance, either personally or by leaving notice at the person’s address, and every person so summoned who, not having been excused by the court, fails to attend or, having attended, refuses to be sworn as a juror, commits an offence and is liable to a fine of five hundred dollars.
The Court’s website also explained that “The Court Bailiff selects the jury list from the latest register of voters.”
The Court added:
This is a random procedure designed to ensure impartiality and an even distribution of the duties to as many citizens as possible.
Your jury service will last for a session of the Grand Court, which is normally two months.
For those potential voters who worry that they will lose hourly wages from their jobs because of the jury duty time, the Judicature Act explains:
Upon receiving a summons to report for jury duty, an employee shall on the next day the employee is engaged in the employee’s employment show the summons to the employee’s immediate supervisor and the employee shall thereupon be excused from the employee’s employment for the day or days required of the employee in serving as a juror.
Each juror shall be entitled to an allowance of fifty dollars per day for the juror’s attendance at court together with a travelling allowance not exceeding one dollar for each mile travelled in order to attend and the Clerk of the Court shall issue to each juror a warrant, countersigned by the court, authorising the Treasury to pay to each juror the amount so due to that juror.
The Judicature Act added:
Notwithstanding the excused absence… a juror who is an employee shall be entitled to the juror’s usual compensation received from the juror’s employment; and an employer who refuses to pay an employee in accordance with this subsection or who terminates the employment of an employee on the grounds that the employee is serving on a jury commits an offence and is liable to be dealt with in accordance with section 27 of the Grand Court Act (2015 Revision).
Where a juror has been serving for a period exceeding two months and the juror’s employer suffers financial loss because of such juror’s absence from the employer’s employment, the employer may apply to the Courts Administrator for an allowance to compensate the employer for such loss or a part of such loss; and the Courts Administrator, after obtaining such information from the employer as the Courts Administrator considers necessary, shall issue to the employer a warrant, countersigned by the Clerk of the Court, authorising the Treasury to pay to such employer the amount so due to the employer.
Based on the above, the Judicature Act appears to provide some security (in terms of income and employment) for young Caymanians who cite loss of income from jury duty time as a reason for not registering to vote.
How a higher number of young Caymanians may increase accountability
When more young Caymanians under the age of 45 register to vote, there is a greater likelihood that their voices will be listened to and taken seriously. This is because young people are more inclined to speak out against poor policies, inadequate governance, and other issues that are important to them. This can be frequently observed on social media, where young Caymanians discuss challenges such as high living costs, difficulties in homeownership and employment, rising crime rates, lack of focus on mental well-being, rapid development that does not align with their interests, loss of cultural heritage, traffic issues, and exclusion from economic opportunities.
By actively holding the Government accountable after registering to vote and casting their votes, young Caymanians can make it more likely that elected officials will understand that there will be repercussions for not fulfilling mandates that do not serve the country’s best interests, including the interests of young Caymanians.
Furthermore, young Caymanians under 45 are encouraged to support and promote eligible candidates within their age group to run in each general election. If elected, these young officials would be held to the same level of accountability as older politicians.
No better time than now to register to vote
For the young Caymanians who have not yet registered to vote, there is no better time than right now to do so.
The process does not take much time to complete and is not complex to understand.
Young Caymanians willing to take the next step may peruse the below requirements from the Elections Office:
Requirements
Eligible persons must complete Form 4 and submit the required original documents to the Registering Officer for their district or to the Elections Office.
The following original documents are required:
If you are a CAYMANIAN STATUS HOLDER: (Items # 1 and 4 on the Form 4 application.)
1) Birth Certificate
2) Caymanian Status Certificate /Letter.
3) Photo ID: Passport or Drivers License
If you are CAYMANIAN BORN AND HAVE CAYMANIAN PARENT/S OR GRANDPARENT:
1) Birth Certificate of applicant, if born in the Islands, and
2) Birth Certificate of one of the applicant’s parents or grandparents who was born in the Islands
3) Photo ID: Passport or Drivers License
If you are CAYMANIAN with an ACKNOWLEDGEMENT LETTER from Immigration or WORC:
1) Birth Certificate of the applicant
2) Acknowledgement letter from WORC/Immigration
3) Photo ID: Passport or Drivers License
Contact details of the Elections Office are as follows:
Telephone: 345-949-8047 ( Monday to Friday from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm)
Email: office@elections.ky
Address: P.O Box 10120, 68 West Bay Road, Bay Town Office Suites, George Town, KY1-1001, Cayman Islands
This information can be found on the website of the Elections Office at https://portal.elections.ky/index.php/home/registeration-process
Over the next couple of months, volunteer groups are also anticipated to set up voter registration desks in various locations, including supermarkets, to provide eligible persons with information on voter registration.
