Will Belizeans Abroad be allowed in the re-registration?

Josephine Tamai

The organization, Belizeans United for Equal Rights at Home and Abroad, says that it is being disenfranchised from re-registering. Any eligible Belizean living oversees who wants to re-register, must first return to Belize and live in the country for at least two months. That is the law and there are no indications that it would be amended anytime soon. The organization has joined efforts with two diaspora organizations in Los Angeles to condemn what it describes as ‘the disenfranchisement of Diasporans currently on the voters list. Today Chief Elections Officer Josephine Tamai was asked about a slew of other issues relating to re-registration.

Josephine Tamai, Chief Elections Officer

“Our laws are clear when it comes to elections. Once you are a Belizeans you are qualified if you are eighteen year old and if you live in the specific constituency for at least two months. So those are the criteria that we look for. Elections and Boundaries Department is not in the position to say who has a legal or who does not have a legal document from the Immigration Department. That department is the only department that can determine that. So again like I mention when those documentation comes to us we will send those to immigration for them to do a verification in those case. So when we get those back and they say this person for some reason their record show that this person is not entitled to be a Belizean or to inform us that those certificates have been revoked then we will automatically know that that person is not a Belizean and then those person’s application will be disallowed. Also let’s say for example these persons get on the list and the government makes a decision that Guatemalans are not eligible to be Belizeans. If it comes two, three months, four months even a year down the road. Once those are revoked those persons automatically do not qualify to be registered. So those persons will be automatically be removed from the list at that point.”