The Belize Peace Movement - they're the ones who brought the lawsuit against government for the unequal distribution of voters across constituencies. The Supreme Court agreed and - through a consent order - compelled the government to come up with a re-distribution of voters. The elections and boundaries commission produced that proposal in July - but the political directorate has rejected it as flawed.
And now, the Peace Movement says they have gone back to court for enforcement of the Consent Order which they say now stands breached by the Elections and Boundaries Commission.
A release explains that the breach is because the Commission's redivisioning proposals of July 2023 do not comply with the constitutional requirement to make electoral divisions in Belize have "nearly an equal number of voters." They point out that the Commission arbitrarily applied deviation thresholds of 25% and 35% which are below Belize's traditional constitutional standards and below international standards.
the. BPM says that the consequence of this breach is that "the current distribution of registered voters in Belize's electoral divisions remains unchanged, even as Belize nears another general election."
Their application to the court asks for a declaration that the current distribution of registered voters is "unconstitutional and unsuitable for the holding of the next general elections" and an injunction restraining the Elections and Boundaries Commission from using the current voters list to conduct general elections until it is brought into compliance with the Constitution.
They are calling on the Elections and Boundaries Commission to promptly lay before the National Assembly new proposals that are constitutionally compliant.
