The Turks and Caicos Islands Elections Office is updating the present Register of Electors and is reminding all that the new Register will be available from 31 March 2013 as required in the Elections Ordinance. Voter registration is an ongoing process to ensure that the Register is kept up-to-date.
If you are on the present Register of Electors, there is no need to re-apply for the next one. Voters on the current list will be automatically included in the 2013 Register, unless they notify the Elections Office that they have changed their name or place of residence or no longer meet the eligibility criteria. The eligibility criteria include living in the TCI for a minimum of 12 out of the last 24 months.
The Supervisor of Elections is also encouraging anyone 18 years or older who satisfies the criteria but who did not apply to be included in the 2012 Register to apply. These include young people who turned 18 years old after March 1, 2012.
An elector’s status as a Turks and Caicos Islanders must first be verified by the Ministry of Border Control through the process of obtaining a TC Islander Status card. Anyone without a status card should apply for one at the offices of the Ministry of Labour and Border Control using the forms and guidance notes that were published during the month of April of this year.
As in the last round of voter registration, the Elections Office will await the completion of the TC Islander status verification process before it will consider an applicant for addition to the Register of Electors.
Potential new electors should complete a voter registration application form. The form can be obtained from the Elections Office in Grand Turk (Waterloo Plaza, above Scotiabank) or Providenciales, Butterfield Square) or the District Commissioner’s Offices in Salt Cay, South Caicos, Middle Caicos (Conch Bar) and North Caicos (Bottle Creek). The application period began on Monday December 17, 2012 and will run until Friday January 25, 2013, Monday to Thursday between 8am and 4:30 pm and on Fridays 8am to 4pm.
Applicants are encouraged to collect and submit any or all of the relevant personal documents (e.g. birth certificate, marriage certificate, naturalization details, photo identification etc) with their various applications to verify their TC Islander status. Prospective applicants are asked to note that registration is free, however Status Cards cost $50.
For further information on the electoral registration process, please contact the Elections Office, Grand Turk (telephone: 946-2568 or 946-2558 or 946-2801 extension 11701, email:
dllewis@gov.tc).
For further information on the verification of TC Islander status and the issuing of TC Islander Status cards, please contact Ministry of Labor and Border Control at Telephone number 946-2801 extension 946-2801 ext. 81444 or 10606 or 40705 or Email addresses
plewis@gov.tc or
cadams@gov.tc