‘The Cayman Islands’ general elections have reflected the will of the people,’ the President of Tynwald Steve Rodan MLC has said.
Mr Rodan was speaking in his capacity as head of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) British Islands and Mediterranean Region (BIMR) six-strong election observer mission to the Cayman Islands which saw the British Overseas Territory go to the polls on May 24 under a new ‘one person, one vote’ electoral system.
Outlining the mission’s preliminary findings Mr Rodan said the elections had been ‘free and fair’ and he commended the elections office team. ‘It was evident a lot of effort had gone into training the staff. The election process was conducted in a peaceful manner, where different opinions were expressed freely,’ he said, adding:
‘The mission was very impressed by the high standard of organisation, meticulous attention to detail and commitment of the supervisor of elections and his team.’
While the observers found the election process to have run ‘smoothly’ and that advances in equality and parity had been made, in its report the mission would be highlighting a number of concerns and recommending areas for improvement. These included issues over protecting secrecy of the vote, a lack of consistent equal representation across electoral districts and a call for full transparency in matters of candidates’ election expenses.
Mr Rodan concluded: ‘Cayman can be confident in its processes…whether or not they are pleased with the results. We hope our recommendations will prove of value to the election authorities.’
Photo - President of Tynwald Steve Rodan MLC outside George Town Central polling station in the Cayman Islands.
