When the votes of the 47,900 voters who cast their ballot in municipal elections on Wednesday were tallied, it shows that the UDP won 59.75% of the vote, while the PUP won 38.55%. It's a surprisingly large margin of defeat for the often successful and always formidable PUP. Here's a look at how those numbers broke down nationally.
Jules VasquezReporting,
47,900 voters came out to vote on election day, that's 62% of the registered 77,640. Its a number that compares poorly with the last stand- alone municipal election in 2000 when 70% came out to vote, and the joint municipal and general election in 2003, when 71% voted. The turnout was lowest in Belize City with 54.5% and Dangriga with 59.2%. Turnout was the highest in Benque Viejo with 75.5% and Orange Walk with 73.6%. Belmopan and San Pedro were the only other municipalities over 70%.
The UDP enjoyed the most decisive victories in San Ignacio and Belize City. In Belize City, the UDP slate beat their PUP opponents almost two to one. The top UDP vote getter Laura Esquivel got 12,951 votes, while the PUP's lowest vote getter Marshall Nunez received 6,481. Nunez who had topped the polls for the PUP in the last election was decidedly outmatched by Moya who beat him almost two to one; she tallied 12,433 votes to his 6,481. Combined, the UDP got 64% of the vote, while the PUP got 36%, a result so lopsided and uncharacteristic in the city, that the likes of it have not been seen for two decades.
In San Ignacio, the UDP also got 64% to the PUP's 46%, with the top UDP vote getter Bernadette Fernandez more than doubling the PUP mayor's final. The UDP had the slimmest margin of victory in Benque Viejo where it got 51.8% of the vote and the PUP got 48.2% in that town, the PUP also got in one councilor in as Armando Chulin beat Mirna Escalante by one vote.
In Corozal the UDP got just a shade under 50% of the vote, while the PUP got 45.7%. Independents played a big role there, where the "We The People" movement got 4.4% of the vote.
Independents played the most impressive role in Belmopan where the VIP movement got 19.5% of the vote, while the UDP got 48.5% and the PUP got a dismal 34%, the party's worst showing in any municipality.
The UDP did the worst in Punta Gorda where an independent mayoral candidate got 3.5% of the vote. That opened the way for PUP Mayor Carlos 'Obeah' Galvez to get elected. Overall, the UDP got 50.1% of the vote there, while the PUP got 46.4%.
In Dangriga, the UDP got 61.9% of the vote, while the PUP got 38.1%. Dangriga was the only municipality where the mayoral candidate, Frank "Pawpa" Mena was also the top vote getter. In Orange Walk, it was supposed to be battleground but it looked like a walkover where the UDP got 54.1% of the vote while the PUP got 45.9%.
The one municipality that we failed to include was San Pedro. In that town, the UDP got 58.6% of the vote, while the PUP earned 40.9%. And that is one more town where the mayor, Elsa Paz topped the polls in her party, leaving the PUP candidate Alberto Nunez with the fewest number of votes in his party.
For Full Election Results Visit: Elections and Boundaries.
