Wants to be removed from register of electors

| 23/03/2016

How do I “de-register” to vote? No longer wish to be on electoral roll.


Auntie’s answer: I am afraid I have bad news for you. Once you are on the electoral roll, you basically cannot be removed. However, as the nice people at the Elections Office explained to me, there are exceptions to the whole “on the list for life” thing.

But – and this is a pretty big but – I am sure you are not going to want to fall into any of the categories by which you can be struck from the roll of voters.

Here we go: there are only three ways for someone to be removed from the electoral roll. One is by death, which clearly is not a desirable method.

The second is if you are deemed to be of “unsound mind”. Perhaps you might argue that you demonstrated this by registering in the first place, but that is not for me to say.

And, lastly, anyone imprisoned for 12 months or more is automatically stricken from the list.

The Elections Office is very diligent about keeping the register as up to date as possible. Every month, the General Registry provides them with a list of deaths. Every quarter, the courts give them the names of everyone in prison. And also every three months, the chief medical officer at Cayman Islands Hospital hands over the name of anyone determined to be of unsound mind. This last situation, I am told, only occurs “once in a blue moon”.

Sorry I could not have been of more help. It would appear that you are stuck with the label “registered voter”. Though, I can’t help but comment that there are far worse things you could be called.

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Category: Ask Auntie

Comments (12)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    The register of electors breaches the ECHR and the Bill of Rights – right to private and family life. All persons who are on the roll have their personal residential address posted on line on the website of the CI elections office. Even the UK does not allow such information to be publicly available on a government run website and there is case law on this in the UK. I wonder if the elections office even read the draft data protection bill that CI Govt had circulated some time ago.

    I suppose another matter that may end up in our courts.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Does that mean if a Caymanian (by virtue of being granted status) who is currently on the electoral register (and also carries a Cayman passport) loses his Caymanian Status due to non residence etc, then that person can still continue to send in an absentee ballot but has no right to land and remain on Island?

    Also what happens to Caymanians who acquire another nationality and renounce their Cayman passport? Does the elections office mean that such persons who have left our shores can still vote?

    The elections office staff need to get proper legal advice as I doubt their answer is comprehensive.

  3. Anonymous says:

    I think that anyone who can prove that they voted for this motley bunch of jokers deserves to be declared of an unsound mind.
    Problem solved.

  4. Anonymous says:

    I hear there,s a certain fella in West Bay who would gladly give you a new fridge for your wote.

  5. Anonymous says:

    Dear Auntie: Would you please investigate and dispel the myth that being listed as a registered elector does not automatically put one on the jury pool list? Those already in the jury pool are seemingly there for other reasons and often get called upon again and again, while many longtime voters have never been called.

  6. Curious says:

    Why is it then that they never update the change of address of registered voters?

  7. Dos XX says:

    Somebody doesn’t want to do jury duty…….

    We should have mandatory voting. It is the only way to ensure that the more enthusiastic lunatics in the electorate don’t get to run the show by themselves.

  8. Rob says:

    That sucks. We should have been told upon signing up that there is no opt out option.

    I don’t care anymore who gets in because I’ve realized they’re not going to make out lives better, we have to do that ourselves. For that give I’d like to come off of the voter’s list. Voting benefits the successful elects more than the people.

  9. Wrongfully Removed Elector says:

    But what do you do if the Elections Office removed you in error for an overseas income tax conviction over 12 months?

    According to the 2009 Constitution Order, Section 91(2)(c) states that “no account shall be taken of a sentence of imprisonment imposed by a court outside the Cayman Islands other than a sentence on conviction of an offense constituted by conduct which, if occurred within the Cayman Islands, would constitute an offense punishable under the law of the Cayman Islands by imprisonment of twelve months or any greater punishment.”

    There are no income tax laws in the Cayman Islands, so can the Elections Office remove you for an overseas income tax conviction with a sentence over twelve months?

  10. Anonymous says:

    Should the question not be corrected to “How can I try to avoid being called for jury duty?”

  11. Anonymous says:

    If you leave the country for more than two elections you are also removed.

  12. Anonymous says:

    That’s bullshit. I know persons been in prison for years came out and got registered. They even voted in previous elections.