Electorate grows by 10% for 2024 Voter Register, but Diaspora still left out   

Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

#TurksandCaicos, March 9, 2024 – More people will be able to exercise their franchise in the 2025 General Elections than in the previous voting session with over 9,400 citizens now on the voters list. It is an increase from the 8,581 voters who were registered in 2021.

The Government has made attempts to increase the franchise of native Turks and Caicos Islanders by inviting thousands of third and second-generation islanders to return home via adjusted immigration laws, but even if that did work quickly, the voter registration rules would keep them from voting in the upcoming poll.

The increases are as follows: Electoral District 1, Grand Turk North, in 2021 had 754 voters, which jumped over 200 to 956 in the 2024/25 publication of the list.

ED 2, Grand Turk South and Salt Cay followed suit moving up from 924 in 2021 to 956 in 2024/25.

A small jump in ED 3 of South Caicos was recorded but it’s still an increase, going from 352 to 370 voters.  A similarly moderate uptick was noted in ED 4, Middle and North Caicos which now has 616 voters, up from 598 in 2021.

ED 5 of Leeward went up by 46 voters from 891 in 2021 to 937 in 2024’s list.

Some of the largest Electoral Districts managed to expand even more, ED 6, The Bight, went from 921 to 1040 in the most recent publication, while the largest district ED 7, Cheshire Hall and Richmond Hill went up from 1,305 in 2021 to 1,429 in 2024.

The voter count in ED 8, Blue Hills, increased slightly from 1,000 to 1,085.

The number of voters in ED 9, Five Cays, shot up from 1,139 to 1,342; while the final district ED 10, Wheeland went from 697 in 2021 to 833 with the publication of the 2024/25 voters list.

Based on previous numbers the full complement of voters is unlikely to make it to the polls but the Turks and Caicos has a very high voting percentage. In 2021, 6460 voters turned out a rough total of 75 percent of those registered.

All figures were obtained from the Elections Department.

Despite the increase, there are still some who will not be able to participate, those in the diaspora. There are countless TC Islanders overseas, close by in The Bahamas and far away in the UK; whether for work, illness, university studies or otherwise who still have a stake in the country’s elections.

So far there have been no provisions to allow overseas. Islanders can register to vote at any time within office hours; visit the Elections Department.