Village council elections start on April 11th. And this year for the first time it will be managed by the Department of Elections and Boundaries. And that’s where Statutory Instrument number 134 of 2009 comes in. That sets out the regulations for the election – and some curious language in there has put many election observers including the National Association of Village Councils and the Opposition on guard. Today Chairman of the Elections and Boundaries Commission Alberto August addressed widespread misapprehension about how the elections will be conducted.
Alberto August, Chairman – Elections and Boundaries Commission
“I know there has been some misinformation with regards to the new regulations coming out for the conduct of village council elections 2010. But I want to advise your viewers that in regard to how village council elections were conducted in the past, nothing has changed except that now the elections will be conducted now by the Elections and Boundaries Commission along with the Department.
In terms of qualifications to vote, it remains the same. Once you are a Belizean, you’ve been residing in the village for more than two months, and once you are 18 years old, you can vote in the elections. In regards to permanent residents the same qualifications apply; you must show proof that you are a permanent resident of Belize. You must be 18 years old and you must have been residing in the village for two months. Those are basically the requirements, the qualification for a person to vote in a village.
In terms of contesting the election, again nothing has changed. You must be a Belizean, you must be residing in the village. Those are the two basic qualifications for contesting an election, you must be a Belizean, eighteen years of age of course and you must be residing in the village for a continuous period of not less than one year.”
Jules Vasquez,
“However while that is clear enough and is what has happened in the past, you will accept that there has been some level of incomprehension or misunderstanding of the new rules because there are errors in the SI and then in the accompanying brochure as well.”
Alberto August,
“Yes what happened is that when the Commission put together the comprehension regulations for conduct of village council elections 2010, the actual first copy of that regulation came out in December of last year and immediately after coming out we had concerns expressed by the Ministry of Local Government, they were the first agency that expressed some concern about it and it was followed up shortly by similar concerns by the Election and Boundaries Department and then the people from NAVCO picked it up. And so we got together and we decided we were going to make the amendment to the regulations and that was what we did. The amendments to the new regulations is supposed to be coming out shortly and it will change absolutely nothing in regards to the conduct of village council elections 2010.”
Jules Vasquez,
“It will change that equivocal or unclear language that was in there?”
Alberto August,
“Precisely, we are going back to where we were. But like I said it was just a few little ‘if’ or ‘and’ which made a difference. We acknowledged that it created some doubt and so we went back to the drawing table and we are getting it amended. So the message I want to send out to the voters out there in the villages across this country is basically nothing has changed.”
August spoke with us after a meeting of the Elections and Boundaries Commission.
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