‘Voters have spoken’
Posted on Fri, 07/20/2012 - 19:14 in Politics
(CNS): Both the leader of the opposition and the independent member for North Side have called on the premier to listen to the people and implement one man, one vote in single member constituencies for the 2013 election. Releasing statements on Friday evening in response to the premier’s comments on Thursday regarding a new committee to examine the voting system, both men said the people had already indicated what they wanted. Alden McLaughlin said a significant majority of voters made it plain that they want single member constituencies and the premier should respect the voice of the people.
“We do not need more discussions, we do not need more committees, we do not need more campaigning or another referendum. All that is required is a simple amendment to the Elections Law,” said the opposition leader in response to the premier’s latest idea of introducing nine double-member constituencies.
Miller said the premier had taken an irrational quantum leap when he assumed that all those registered voters who did not come to the polls would have voted 'no'.
“In North Side, I have been given several reasons by registered voters as to why they did not turn up to the polls,” he said in a radio broadcast on Friday evening. “These include: sick at home, sick in hospital, off island, never votes for personal or religious reasons, too drunk at the party to vote, could not decide how to vote. Not a single person gave the reason that their not voting would count as a 'no' vote."
Miller said that, unlike the premier, he had some difficulty in knowing that the dead would vote 'no' as the dead don't speak to him.
McLaughlin too took issue with the premier’s position that those who did not come to the polls should be considered 'no' votes. He said it was “disingenuous and grossly misleading” for the premier to claim the majority of people voted 'no'.
“In truth and in fact the 'yes' votes outstripped the 'no' votes by 2 to 1," McLaughlin said. “The reality is that if the premier had not manipulated the referendum process by creating an artificially high bar of 50% + 1 of registered voters instead of 50% +1 of votes cast, the referendum would have succeeded.”
The opposition leader said the premier’s dismissal of the wishes of 65% of voters in the referendum demonstrated the "absolute disregard and utter contempt” the UDP administration had for the people and how out of touch government was.
See both statements below. Read CNS Monday for more on the opposition's position regarding the referendum and the future of Cayman’s voting system.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Statement by Ezzard Miller.doc | 53.71 KB |
| Statement by Alden McLaughlin.doc | 96.5 KB |
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Let's put politics aside for
Let's put politics aside for now and apply some commonsense.
I know of several people that went with their voters ID to vote and were not
allowed because their name was, REMOVED from the voters list,
and others on arrival found a line marked through their name indicating they had already voted.
Those people, believe me were going to vote YES.
The same could probably be said for some NO voters.
The average voter turnout for elections are 75%
Registered voters on referandom day = 15,161 minus 25% = 11,371.
It is therefore fair to say that if this were an election 11, 371 voters would have
turned up at the poles to vote.
It is also fair to say that NO ONE CAN ACCURATLY SAY, that they know
how ALL the people not voting on referandom day was going to vote.
Now those that voted 2 out of every 3 voted yes, therefore 66% voted yes.
Now lets assume that based on the voters results, those people not voting,
2/3, two thirds would have voted yes. = a win for yes voters.
Now lets do Rol, Rol thing.
Lets be fair, lets be really, really fair and assume
that those that did not vote were split down the middle, 50% yes, 50% No
Tally, still a big Yes win.
Now lets say those NOT voting from the 11,371 who would have normally voted in
an election, voted 66% yes and 34% no, still a Yes win, "SO" The I's have it. Yes, Yes.
Yeah Alden everyone spoke
Yeah Alden everyone spoke except you. Where the hell were you during this campaign anyway ? Sitting on the fence again waiting on the result ? Where was your 30 second ad suporting the initiative ? Its like the Chuckster said on the Rooster this morning the PPM's position on the issue of OMOV is very unclear. Your silence during the campaign only served to cause people to question whether the PPM was truly for this initiative. You are the leader Alden and people expect you to speak out. Arden speaking out does not mean that what he has to say is the official PPM position. You my friend need to make a decision - Lead, Follow or Get to hell out of the way !!!
Maybe Alden & Mac should
Maybe Alden & Mac should both step down! Nobody would miss either of them.
From what I recall, the
From what I recall, the registered electorate were 1) given access to postal ballots, 2) hit with a barrage of publicity from both sides in the build up to the vote and 3) given a day off to vote. If the electorate are that lazy or ill-informed that they still could not be bothered to vote yes in the numbers required to pass, then tough luck.
I do agree that the votes not cast are not "No" votes, but to the same degree, they are not "Yes", they are rather the realisation that you have a lot of lazy and apathetic people out there. And, quite frankly, you have the ultimate decision you all deserve.
Having a referedum with
Having a referedum with anything other than 50% of eligible voters plus 1 could be dangerous.
If the threshold is left to the government of the day, you could get a situation where a referendum is called hastily by a sitting government, the people dont have time to consider the issue, the government spends alot to convince their supporters to come out and vote and as a result something dreadful is passed as a result of a few voters who turned out to vote.
in my mind betta to
1) Clean up voters list
2) Keep threshold at 50% plus 1 of elected voters
3) Continue to educate our people of their DUTY to vote
This way anything so important that is before the country, we know exactly what the majority wants at any particular point in time.
UDP you will get what you
UDP you will get what you gave sewed come 2013! Bless your days in office now! w-bay shallow mined people won't help you!
LOL
LOL
okay this is how this
okay this is how this goes:
Majority of people knew if they did NOT come out to vote that their vote would count as a NO.
If OMOV committee had a problem with this they should have made the petition so that the people that did not come out did not count to any vote being yes or no.
SOOO in my conclusion, OMOV committee had to get their people out
And not enough people came out
This should not be blamed on the fact that so much people stayed home.. noo.. everyone was well and aware that their vote would have counted as a no..
I repeat OMOV committee did not get enough people out and that's their lost.
Props to them trying something new but omov just doesn't have enough advantages to our country. Our electorial system is not perfect but in my opinion its a tad bit better than omov at the moment with the size of our country in mind.
It would have just been a waste of the country's money and solving very little.
UDP has to put people back to
UDP has to put people back to work and create jobs for thej. the UDP has to
ignore PPM and Alden and not let them slow dow progress
IGNORE ALDEN!
1) Ezzard/PPM asked for no
1) Ezzard/PPM asked for no confidence motion against Premier Bush- FAILED......2)Ezzard asked Premier Bush to step down because of corruption accusations-FAILED.......3)Ezzard asked Premier Bush to step down as minister of finance regarding budget crisis-FAILED......4)Ezzard asked Caymanians to vote yes for OMOV in letter to Caymanian Compass in regards to the lastest UDP- Dart deal-FAILED...............................................Ezzard can't you see that you cannot remove our Premier,wouldn't it much better to work with him like you said you would in May of 2009? Ezzard as of now please support our Premier instead of planning your next most likely to FAIL move!!
The Premier works with People
The Premier works with People with big money; Dart, CHEC etc. NOt other politicians he want yes men under him to do his bidding not people to share ideas with.
It is these people with BIG
It is these people with BIG MONEY that will help us get the econo-car starting. Do you want to stay in a jam or do you want to see jobs??? Stop attacking progress
19:26 I was reading some
19:26 I was reading some proposals that the premier was putting forward after the OMOV election, which I think could work, besides other persons have expressed they think the same. I can understand that there is nothing the Premier will do that will be satisfactory to Mr Miller. I believe even Alden is getting tired of it all now.
However as I was saying I think it is less expensive to devide the districts into two than into four. Because why should not each division have an MLA office to run. There will have to be four MLA Offices in Bodden Town and extras in Gorge Town and west Bay.
Come on Ezzard aits time you agree on something. We need to move on.
so if 18 independents get
so if 18 independents get elected under the present system, wouldn't they all qualify for MLA offices? except the Cabinet ministers of course
I hear ya knocking but you
I hear ya knocking but you cant come in!!!!!
People were ill advised to
People were ill advised to "not vote" or to "not waste their time if they were going to vote 'No' ". The 43% of registered voters that did not go to the polls could also be "yes" voters who felt things were "fixed" so what was the point. We just can't guess what that 43% represents. Any government official who suggests voters should not vote should be removed from office. We would not be in this dilemma if all the electorate had voted, and made their voice heard. Do not let anyone tell you what to do when it comes to the single most important right you have living in a democracy. Voting is the single most important way democracy flourishes. Unless you cast a vote based on your own personal desires and wishes you are only being a pawn in a despot's game.
I agree this hijacking fiasco
I agree this hijacking fiasco by the UDP was unfair and pure politricks.
Question is: As Alden and Wayne are seasoned attorneys, will they take this to the UK courts or will they do as usual....allow the Bully Dictator to get away with yet another act of apparent illegality?
These things cost money, are
These things cost money, are you willing to help with the cost?
OMG what is wrong with
OMG what is wrong with people. Only people in West Bay won "no" with their small margin. The other 6 districts voted "yes" , they won the referendum . Its a no brainer, did they let kirky vote or alice? Did anyone ask them why they didn't vote? Did anybody ask any of the prisoners if they voted? What about the other people like them. They must be at least 20% that can't vote. Then you had the other people that didn't show up because they abstained from voting. That what its called when you don't vote. You abstained
yup... "what not
yup... "what not broken doesn't need fixing" the reason why the Premier has come with a new proposal of dividing the country into 9 (half of 18) is because seeing the referendum, he learns that so many people want some type of change. Hence he is looking for an equal and fair balance. A lot of people may not agree with the OMOV option but there's also a lot that do and something like this would make each district have equal representation without splitting the country into so many smaller parts. Why take the Premier's previous words out of context, and why knock down this option? Lets go forward with this fair balanced proposal.
Come 2013 those who don't
Come 2013 those who don't vote won't count and those who vote will show the UDP who really matters. You won't listen now, but you sure as hell will have no choice but step down then! Good bye UDP!
Anyway you put it, this was
Anyway you put it, this was the first 'fixed-election' in the history of the Cayman islands and we have officially joined the ranks of other 'third-world' countries.
This was the first time that our leader and his government have used tax-payer funds to pay for their own political campaign.
This was the first time that a Govt automatically cast votes for people who have died, and for those who did not vote.
This was the first time that a Govt denied many potential voters the right to vote by calling an election on short notice so as not to give them time to register.
This was the first time that a Govt in blatant disregard of the Constitution used a part that is meant for public initiated referendums, for their own Govt initiated referendum, so as to 'ENSURE' it would fail.
This is the first time that a Govt ignored the will of 65% of those who voted and declared a victory for the side with the less votes and those who did not even vote.
This is the first time that it took only 48 hours for a Govt to double-cross their own loyal supporters by reversing position on the issues.
This is the first time that a Govt has taken a massive amount of cash from the public coffers and given it to supporters in the form of cash to fix their homes, cash to pay their mortgages, and cash to churches. This will no doubt influence the vote of the voters in favour of the Govt in the next election, just as it has in this referendum.
We are now officially a third world country!
Thanks UDP!
One thing that is certain,
One thing that is certain, they OMOV committee has brough the most important items to the national agenda! And if MacDinejhad is going to hold the Power Wheel after MAY 2013, that same committe will have to support him, GOD For bid!
The Hon.W.McKeeva Bush Is
The Hon.W.McKeeva Bush Is Hazardous Proof!!!
That's a hazardous belief
That's a hazardous belief that is bound to trip him up n pop he mout sooner or later. By the looks of the OMOV results it certainly already has.
There are thousands of
There are thousands of unregistered and qualified voters who (for a variety of reasons) were excluded or not registered properly for this referendum. Thousands of intelligent ballots that will be registered and counted at the next election, you can be sure of that.
Bottom line is: if you care
Bottom line is: if you care you voet. If you don't care you don't vote. Those who cared were 2 to 1 in favor. End of story.
Ignorance is bliss......Any
Ignorance is bliss......Any fool that can listen to McKeeva, much less believe him has to be completely void of logic, sense and morals......I hope all you idiots have food next year to put in your new fridges.....but at this rate.......probably not. I can't wait to say I told you so! Hopefully you will then be thankful an intelligent majority will keep fighting for equality for all......even fool fools.
People must be aware of the
People must be aware of the subtle threat of intimidation. I was speaking with a "Paper" Caymanian who said all the people in her neighbourhood (mostly "Paper" Caymanians like herself), refused to go out and vote because they were worried that their faces would be marked and fearful of the possible repercussions to themselves. So this suggests that if there wasn't this underlying fear, more people would be going out. Hey, didn't 3,000 people get status some years ago at one fell swoop? Maybe these are the ones that did not go out and vote. Maybe they still don't feel accepted enough (or brave enough), to go out with born Caymanians and vote without fear.
The comment by Mr. Miller,
The comment by Mr. Miller, on the statement and other utterings by the Premier, shows who has the character and qualities desired for the office of Premier.
Thank God for Ezard Miller, I have no doubt in his ability to lead us out of the mess that Bush and his crony capitalatism is leding us into. Bush's total disregard of the peoples sentiments along with his arrogance in the face of three investigations. Shows his desire to keep his hand on the money spigot.
Please don't fill his head up
Please don't fill his head up with that crap...Ezzard as premier is the last thing we need.
Actually the last thing we
Actually the last thing we need is McKeeva as premier.
Alden says that if you VOTE
Alden says that if you VOTE for me, I will implement the OMOV. But you must vote for me so that I can fix the economy. Yeah right. We know too well what happened.
As much as I believe Bush
As much as I believe Bush should go, the prospect of someone with the track record of Alden fixing the economy?!! Come on, man. The guy hasn't got a clue. His only aim was, and will ever be, to "look good" - at any expense to the public, that is. He was a disaster as a minister, and now he wants our vote to be premier? Bush needs to go, we all know, but Alden,for goodness sake?!!!!!!!!
Thank you ALden and PPM for
Thank you ALden and PPM for the beautiful schools and roads and a beautiful Government Administration Building that will all help to move this country and our people forward with grace for the next fifty years. Undoubtedly your efforts will one day land us an educated Government AND an educated electorate. And thank you UDP for...er...oh forget it.
LOL OH PLEASE.. Ezzard says
LOL OH PLEASE.. Ezzard says he has several reasons why people didn't show up to the polls like "sick at home, sick in hospital, off island, never votes for personal or religious reasons, too drunk" LOL it almost sounds like what typical caymanians say when late for work! Ezzard why not just be straight and frank with the people of these islands like you always claim to be. The 6000 to 7000 people who didn't show up was because they didn't WANT to show up! NO CHANGE... plain and simple
More likely they were too
More likely they were too lazy to get their backsides out of bed, or in West a bay got lost looking for the altered voting sites
There is a word called
There is a word called 'neutrality'. No voting means not a YES not a NO, just simply neutral.
I'm hearing opposition saying
I'm hearing opposition saying now that the government set the bar 7583 too high. And also I am hearing they cry about how the referendum considers a majority-bar instead of majority of voters as the determination of passage of it. I WONDER IF THEY RECALL HOW BEFORE THE REFERENDUM THEY ACCEPTED THE RULES OF THE GAME. Now that they lost the game, it is all a bag of excuses and how government FORCE them and all whole list of attacks. Pure Bull! You guys knew too well what you were getting yourselves into! According to the rules, you lost and can't take it. :o)
While Rome burns Nero
While Rome burns Nero plays......... play Caymanians, play while the Cayman Islands burn. Do you see and know what is happening look at what is happening in our financial industry, in our society. We are not even able to present a balanced budget to the UK yet we sit around and talk foolishness about the OMOV. It's over get back to the real issues of this country. Somebody please we are drowning and dying here! Since our local politician refuse to tackle the problem at hand the UK will and I know none of us will like it then but like TCI we will have to live with it and I know we don't want to have to live with it. Move on people let us fix the mess that we are in and stop blaming one political party or the other. At the end of the day we are all Caymanians and those of us with no where else to go will have to stay irrespective which party is in power. So let us put asise our differences and work towards the good of this our beloved isle Cayman.
Assuming you have the
Assuming you have the capacity to understand them, read Sections 69 &70 of the Constitution, and more particularly the Review article by Aristophones Duckpond - you may then have some idea of how the "majority" should have been determined. However, you are probably happier just living in ignorance.
DEAD WRONG. They OMOV
DEAD WRONG. They OMOV committee had up until November to collect signatures and were making steady progress towards the 50% +1 of the electorate. By then, more people would also have been able to register for voting. However, your UDP realized this and were not about to let that happen, not about to give the OMOV committee enough time to gather all the signatures they needed. So they called it months early, effectively cutting off the time for gathering signatures and allowing time for others to register in order to be able to vote. They also picked the worse time - when most people go on vacation. So, all the people who could not register in time because the UDP passed the law saying the referendum had to be decided in July, disenfranchised all those people who could have had time to register for the November vote. So stop speaking BS !
ReasonX, what you are saying
ReasonX, what you are saying is true, to an extent, however you should note that the errant "bar" was protested against prior to the vote, and rightfully so.
BUT! That's not what is important.
What IS important is that the OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of voters voted "YES". No-shows are never -- in any vetted system -- counted as a vote. This was a special circumstance that was slanted to favor the UDP, and there is no other way to look at it.
What is also important is that the people have spoken with the only tool they have at their disposal against a broken machine -- their vote -- and they spoke loudly and clear.
I don't blame you for being alarmed. I would be also, in your shoes. My shoes walk the path of what is good for the country as a whole, disregarding special interest and other groups who have been sucessful thus far in influencing this administration to serve their own ends to the disregard of our country's best interest.
Change comin' son. Each and every one of us can be part of the solution, or part of the problem. Choose wisely, and think of the future of our children.
Peace.
BOOMSHELL.............The
BOOMSHELL.............The OMOV Referendum initiated by the Govt is UNCONSTITUTIONAL as it falls outside of the 2009 Constitution.
There is NO LAW passed and enacted for the Govt to bring such a Referendum. Read it for yourself - see excerpt for the 2009 Constitution!!
The 2009 Constitution DOES NOT call for a "50+1" results in order for the Referendum to be binding upon the Govt.
In fact, it DOES NOT give the Govt any power to dictate any specific amount or set barriers for the Electorate.
I strongly believe that we have every cause to take our YES results to the UK Parliament since the Govt is refusing to accept the majority vote of YES.
69. A law enacted by the Legislature may make provision to hold a referendum amongst persons
registered as electors in accordance with section 90, on a matter or matters of national importance,
40
when so resolved by the majority of the elected members of the Assembly; but the question of
whether the Cayman Islands should seek any amendment to this Constitution that may result in
their independence shall be deemed to be a matter of national importance.
Under Sections 90, 91 & 92 which speaks to persons who are or are not qualified to vote, can the Election Office please confirm if the Electorate Register used in the OMOV Referendum was amended to remove all deceased persons, and all appropriate person with mental illness, and all persons of unsound mind, and all persons serving a prison term of twelve months or greater, whether they are incarcerated locally or off the island.
If these persons were not removed from the Electorate Register, then the percentage of the majority vote of YES is even more GREATER, MORE SIGNIFICANT!!!
Asa a supporter of OMOV I
Asa a supporter of OMOV I would like to be able to agree with you but I am afraid I cannot. The govt. did pass a Referenum Law in May and the referendum including the required majority was constitutional in so far as s 69 is silent on the point.
Here we go again...Let this
Here we go again...Let this $hit die please!!
Referendum
Referendum Law
http://gazettes.gov.ky/sites/default/files/extraordinary-gazettes-supplements/Es132012_web.pdf
There is a Law enacted - the
There is a Law enacted - the 2012 Referendun Law - it is on the gazette website if you want to read it. It is in that Law, passed in the LA, where the 50% plus one was set, the Constitution requires a Law, and such a Law was enacted. I tried to put the link earlier but the comment would not work, (said it triggered the spam filter, maybe CNS could post it?) The Constitution sets the 50% plus one vote for a people initiated referendum, so if the petition had been handed in and a referendum had been called because of it, then the bar would have been 50% plus one because of Section 70 pf the Constitution, so although the gov did not need to set the bar that high, because not people initiated, they chose to do so, and passed the required law to make it so. However any gov who ignores the majority of voters who did vote yes does so at its peril, whatever is said this is a result that cannot be ignored.
About 1/3 of all registered
About 1/3 of all registered voters voted Yes, that should tell you something. Hello???? That means 2/3 of the people stayed home and gave a statement: continue with the course - do not change! I wonder now what PPM plans are. So far they have not brought any solutions to the table when it comes to our economy.
If that is correct why is
If that is correct why is McKeeva proposing another voting system? Is he deliberately ignoring the wishes of 2/3 of the electorate who according to you wanted no change? What does that tell you about your leader?
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