The 2021 Municipal Elections are now exactly 2 weeks away, and so, crunch time is rapidly approaching for the political parties and their candidates. But, perhaps the busiest individuals who are finishing up their preparations are the staff at the Elections and Boundaries Department and the hundreds of public officers who will work with them to officiate these elections.
Chief Elections Officer Josephine Tamai spoke with the press this morning to say what you, the voters, should expect on March 3rd.
The conversation began with a summary report of Nomination Day, which happened countrywide on Monday. Here's what Tamai told the media about all those candidates who have signed up:
Josephine Tamai - Chief Elections Officer
"160 nominations, for all 9 municipalities. We also received nominations for 2 candidates for the Corozal Bay By-Election. Those were nominations that we received. We have nominations from the Peoples United Party, the United Democratic Party, the Belize Progressive Party; we have for the Belize People's Front. We also had some independent candidates as well. We had 12 independent candidates. We also had one from Dangriga for the United Upliftment Party. That is one person. So, that made up a total of 160 persons across the 9 municipalities, that will be having municipal elections come March 3rd."
"In terms of the polling stations, I can tell that for municipal elections, we're having 272 polling stations across the country, in all 9 municipalities, and for the Corozal Bay by-election, we're having a total of 18 polling stations because we know that on the 3rd of March, we're having a double election for the Corozal Bay electoral division."
"We have approximately 1,500 public officers who will be conducting elections across the country for municipal elections and also for the by-election. That does not include the number of police officers."
"For the municipal election, we have a total of 94,890 registered electors for all 9 municipalities, and for Corozal Bay By-election, we have a total of 5,712 registered electors."
Reporter
"Are you able to discuss with us the cost of this municipal election, in terms of what the Elections and Boundaries Department has incurred so far, an estimate?"
Josephine Tamai
"Well, I will tell you that when it comes to conducting an election, and especially with COVID, it would roughly be around maybe a million dollars."
