As the verification process on the cruise port referendum petition signatures moves forward, the Elections Office would like to inform the public on its current progress.

As of 9 a.m. today (Tuesday, 30 July 2019), the Elections Office reports a total of 3,705 petition signatures have been confirmed, out of a total submission of 5,637 petition signatures to be verified.

Through the collection of signature verification forms, officials have now reviewed 70% required to meet the constitutional requirement of 25% of registered voters (5,292 signatures). Officials confirm that 76 petitioners have declined to sign the official verification forms.

The Elections Office continues to accept petition signatures submitted by the CPR group and is in some cases receiving verification forms in advance of the next CPR submission. In the later cases, persons have stated that they recently signed the petition and have asked for their signatures to be verified at the Elections Office or at our local supermarket verification booths, in advance of the CPR submitting the signatures for verification.

With each submission, the CPR group has reported and the Elections Office has confirmed a number of signatures that were excluded from verification. These excluded signatures are not included in submitted totals or verified totals. The following is a summary of the two CPR submissions:

·         On 12 June 2019

Ø  6,053 signatures were delivered by the CPR group during the official handover

Ø  241 of those signatures, the CPR reported as being multiple submissions (persons signing more than once)

Ø  374 signatures, the CPR reported as not corresponding with the current electoral register(signatures from non-voters)

Ø  5,438 – the total signatures submitted by the CPR for verification.

·         On 11 July 2019

Ø  229 signatures were handed over by the CPR group

Ø  16 of those signatures were reported to be multiple submissions

Ø  14 of the signatures were reported as not corresponding with the current electoral register

Ø  199 – the total signatures submitted by the CPR for verification.

Supervisor of Elections, Mr. Wesley Howell, notes: “With each of the submissions, the CPR performed its own assessment on its petition signatures to help in ensuring validity of the process; and the CPR team worked to eliminate the names of non-voters, in keeping with section 70 of the Cayman Islands Constitution Order 2009.

“I would like to thank the CPR team for their continued support in helping to expedite the verification process.”

The Elections Office continues to provide weekly progress reports to His Excellency the Governor, Mr, Martyn Roper. The summary facts are then shared with Cabinet members.

Officials will continue with its various verification methods to review the 1,932 signatures currently remaining to be verified.

In order to meet the constitutional requirement with 25% of the 21,116 registered electors, a total of 1,587 verification forms still need to be confirmed.

For more information on the verification process and details on how interested persons can verify their signature today, please visit www.elections.ky/cpr.

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