In April’s general election, only about 60% of candidates will be able to vote for themselves, as 22 of the political hopefuls live outside the electoral district in which they’re standing.
Unlike electors, who can only vote in the district in which they’re a registered resident, candidates can run in any constituency so long as they are nominated by two voters in that district.
According to the latest revised Register of Electors, which will be finalised on 1 April, 36 of the 58 men and women standing for election are running in the district in which they are registered voters, while the remainder live outside the constituencies in which they’re vying to be elected.
Two of the three political party leaders — André Ebanks and Dan Scott — live in districts other than those they are standing in, so they won’t be able to cast a ballot in their own favour.
Ebanks, who is registered as a voter in Prospect and running as a candidate in West Bay South, will be able to vote for fellow Caymanian Community Party member Sabrina Turner who is standing in Prospect. With no Cayman Islands National Party candidate running in Newlands, Scott, who is registered in that district and hoping to secure a seat in Cayman Brac East, won’t have anyone in the party he leads to vote for.
Many of the candidates would have been residing in their chosen districts if the old multi-member constituency election method were still in place. However, many of those districts were divided into smaller areas in 2017, when 19 single-member constituencies under the ‘one-man, one-vote’ system was introduced in 2017.
For example, most of the 10 West Bay candidates live in that area, but only three of them can vote in the electoral districts they are contesting — McKeeva Bush, Katherine Ebanks-Wilks and Jewel Hydes.
In West Bay North, none of the four candidates can vote for themselves, as three are registered to vote in West Bay West and one in West Bay Central.
Of Cayman’s 19 districts, there are only six in which all the candidates will be able to vote for themselves — North Side, Red Bay, Newlands, Bodden Town East, West Bay Central, and Cayman Brac West and Little Cayman.
While nearly two dozen of the candidates are not seeking a seat in the districts in which they are registered to vote, based on the constituency of their primary residence, many grew up in the districts in which they’re standing or have strong family links to those communities.
Where they vote
The Compass analysed the revised electoral roll to find out where each of the candidates can vote. They are listed below by the district in which they are running, with their political affiliation and voting district in brackets. Candidates that are running in a different district than where they can vote are in italics.
West Bay North
Rolston ‘Rollie’ Anglin (IND) (West Bay West)
Shakeina Bush (IND) (West Bay West)
Jermaine Ebanks-Hurlstone (IND) (West Bay Central)
Jordan Rivers (CINP) (West Bay West)
West Bay West
McKeeva Bush (IND) (West Bay West)
Julie Hunter (CINP) (West Bay North)
West Bay Central
Katherine Ebanks-Wilks (TCCP) (West Bay Central)
Jewel Hydes (IND) (West Bay Central)
West Bay South
André Ebanks (TCCP) (Prospect)
Sterling Dwayne Ebanks (IND) (West Bay Central)
George Town North
Joey Hew (PPM) (George Town North)
Romellia Welcome (IND) (George Town South)
George Town West
Tyree Hernandez (IND) (George Town West)
Pearlina McGaw-Lumsden (PPM) (George Town East)
Craig Merren (CINP) (George Town South)
Hunter Walton (IND) (George Town West)
George Town Central
Kenneth Bryan (PPM) (George Town East)
Carmen McField (CINP) (Red Bay)
Anthony ‘Anttie’ Ramoon (TCCP) (George Town Central)
George Town South
Craig ‘Festa’ Frederick (PPM) (George Town South)
Alric Lindsay (IND) (George Town South)
Gary ‘Peanut’ Rutty (CINP) (East End)
George Town East
Oscar Bodden (IND) (George Town East)
Emily DeCou (TCCP) (George Town East)
Vassel ‘Bud’ Johnson (CINP) (George Town South)
Roy McTaggart (PPM) (George Town North)
Red Bay
Phillip Ebanks (IND) (Red Bay)
Leon Gould (IND) (Red Bay)
Roy Tatum (PPM) (Red Bay)
Dawn Thomas (CINP) (Red Bay)*
Melrose Natasha Whitelocke (TCCP) (Red Bay)
Prospect
Crystal Gomez Wilson (PPM) (Prospect)
Michael Myles (CINP) (Red Bay)
Sabrina Turner (TCCP) (Red Bay)
Savannah
Heather Bodden (TCCP) (Savannah)
Donna Bush (PPM) (Newlands)
Newlands
Raul Gonzalez Jr. (IND) (Newlands)
Wayne Panton (TCCP) (Newlands)
Alva Suckoo (PPM) (Newlands)
Bodden Town West
Osbourne ‘Ossie’ Bodden (TCCP) (Bodden Town East)
Haymond Rankin (CINP) (Bodden Town East)
Chris Saunders (IND) (Bodden Town West)
Bodden Town East
Robert Bodden (TCCP) (Bodden Town East)
Dwayne ‘John John’ Seymour (PPM) (Bodden Town East)
North Side
Johany ‘Jay’ Ebanks (IND) (North Side)
Justin Ebanks (PPM) (North Side)
East End
Delmira Bodden (PPM) (East End)
Roydell Carter (IND) (Newlands)
John McLean Jr. (IND) (East End)
Isaac Rankine (IND) (East End)
Gueva Richards (CINP) (East End)
Cayman Brac West and Little Cayman
Nickolas DaCosta (CINP) (Cayman Brac West and Little Cayman)
Lonny Tibbetts (IND) (Cayman Brac West and Little Cayman)
Cayman Brac East
Ruth Ann Bodden (IND) (Cayman Brac East)
James Albert Christian (IND) (Cayman Brac East)
Juliana O’Connor-Connolly (PPM) (Cayman Brac East)
Maxine McCoy-Moore (IND) (Cayman Brac East)
Dan Scott (CINP) (Newlands)
*Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story listed Dawn Thomas as being registered to vote in West Bay South. In fact, she is listed under her maiden name in the Register of Electors as a voter in Red Bay.