Election 2009

(CNS): According to the summary of returns on election expenses published by the Elections Office for the 20 May General Election, Dr Frank McField, who stood as a an independent candidate for George Town, spent some $37,500 on his election, the highest spending of any candidate in the race. The United Democratic Party spent just short of $30,000 per candidate and the PPM just over $31,000. Of the 43 candidates that contested the race, thirty candidates including all of the elected members have complied with the law and declared their campaign spending.

(CNS): Almost 800 people were involved in last week’s elections, and Supervisor of Elections Kearney Gomez has praised all those involved, saying, “A tremendous amount of work by an extraordinarily large number of people helped make the General Elections and Referendum of 20 May a resounding success for the Cayman Islands.” In a release from the E;ections Office, Gomez, along with Deputy Supervisors Colford Scott, Orrett Connor and Ernie Scott, paid tribute to those responsible for seeing that both voting processes ran smoothly.

(CNS):  The newly elected and only independent member of the Legislative Assembly, Ezzard Miller, says that he will be jealously guarding that independence and will not be joining the United Democratic Party (UDP). Although he has accepted the Chair of the Health Services Authority Board, Miller says he will not be sitting on the government benches but taking up a seat on the opposite bench in the far south east corner of the chamber, as far from the "Opposition” as possible to make his independence from both parties clear.

(CNS): Leader of the People’s Progressive Movement and outgoing Leader of Government Business Kurt Tibbetts has said it is the responsibility of the attorney general and the governor to deal with the apparent disqualification of Mark Scotland and Dwayne Seymour in Bodden Town. He said that before the governor swears in any candidate to the Legislative Assembly it is his responsibility to check they are qualified.

(CNS): The Cayman Islands Constitution was passed on the say of less than 50% of the full electorate, though it did receive 62.2% approval from those who took part on Wednesday, 20 May, or 7,045 ‘yes’ votes. Although the new Constitution itself stipulates that a people-led referendum must receive an approval rating of more than 50% of the entire electorate (which is currently 15,361), this vote did not reach that figure. In order to achieve the new standard of referendum it would have required 7,681 votes to pass.

(CNS):  Updated: The Cayman Islands Constitution has been passed with around 62% of the vote. Following the results from George Town with 2,748 voters in favour and only 1,536 against, the people said 'Yes'. In total, 7045 Caymanians said yes to the new Constitution and 4,127 said 'No' so "the ayes have it". Earlier this afternoon the Bodden Town and West Bay result had already made it clear that the result would be a nationwide 'Yes',  though the approval rating is higher than anticipated following the first result of the day from the Sister Islands, which only returned a yes vote with a narrow margin.

(CNS): In the first results in the referendum count the people of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman have voted for he new Constitutional Document in the country’s first ever referendum by the closest of margins. 362 people voted “yes” while 329 voted “no” with five ballot papers being rejected. Whether the narrow margin will be a sign of things to come across Grand Cayman remains to be seen as the referendum count continues.

(CNS): Despite the anticipated challenges to their two candidates in Bodden Town, the United Democratic Party was meeting today to discuss their future government and the likely ministerial positions. Rolston Anglin, the second elected member for West Bay and the man tipped to take over the Ministry of Education, said that the team would be discussing how the new UDP government will take shape today, but they were well aware that they needed to consider the implications of any challenges to the Bodden Town Candidates.

(CNS): Police said that detectives have arrested a 28-year-old man on suspicion of attempted robbery following an incident at Scooters and Wheels on South Church Street on Tuesday (May 19). The 911 Emergency Communications Centre received a call at approximately 11.25am from a staff member reporting that a man armed with a knife had entered the store and demanded cash. The worker told the offender that there was no cash on the premises and he left empty handed.

(CNS): The final result in the General Election 2009 which came in from George Town at 4:00am this morning secured the United Democratic Party’s majority and ensured they will be forming the next government. Pushing Alden McLaughlin into third place Adam polled 46% of the vote. Ellio Solomon was also returned as fourth elected member with 40% of the vote. After a close race for the top spot the Leader of the People’s Progressive Movement and now the Leader of the Opposition Kurt Tibbetts held on with 47% of the vote.

(CNS): There were few surprises went the West Bay result finally came in, returning all four incumbent United Democratic members and ensuring that, with the imminent result in George Town, McKeeva Bush will form the next government despite the problems with two of his UDP candidates in Bodden Town. Bush polled over 68% of the vote and Rolstin Anglin over 65%, and Cline Glidden and Cpt Eugene Ebanks taking over 57% and 52% respectively.

(CNS): In probably the most surprising result of the night, both UDP candidates, Mark Scotland and Dwayne Seymour, have been elected to the district of Bodden Town but will face an immediate challenge owing to their failure to meet the constitutional requirement to declare their business contracts with government before the deadline. Even before the final results were announced, Osbourne Bodden, the People’s Progressive Movement candidate who came in fourth, a few votes behind Seymour, confirmed that both candidates’ election would be challenged.

(CNS): With the likely formation of a UDP government later today, returning UDP representative for Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, can look forward to a Cabinet seat, which was promised to her by UDP leader McKeeva Bush on the campaign trail. In a neck and neck fight to the finish, O’Connor-Connolly was nudged out of the first elected member position by just 6 votes, with PPM member Moses Kirkconnell gaining 473 (59%) votes to 467 (56%).

(CNS): Voters in East End at least opted not to “Stop the Progress” after all and they have sent Arden McLean back to the Legislative Assembly. The People’s Progressive Movement candidate received more than 59% of the vote compared with his namesake John McLean, who polled just over 40%. The second full result of the evening confirms the trend that has now begun to emerge across the islands that Cayman looks to be returning party candidates and rejecting the independents.