International Observers Will be Present for I.C.J. Referendum

The Elections and Boundaries Department is gearing up for referendum day. The Chief Elections Officer Josephine Tamai today told the media that section six of the Referendum Act states that a referendum shall be conducted similarly to an election. So according to Tamai, the I.C.J. referendum process on April tenth will involve returning officers, elections clerks, counting clerks and polls clerks among others. She says that the polling stations will be similar to those used during a general election.

Josephine Tamai, Chief Elections Officer

Josephine Tamai

“We have the Referendum Act which is chapter ten of the Laws of Belize and chapter six says that any referendum conducted under that act should be conducted similarly to an elections conducted under the Representation of the People’s Act. So the laws basically follow the same. We will have international observers. Those persons will able to go in those polling stations. They will be observing the process as well to ensure that we have transparency and accountability throughout. We have from CARICOM, Commonwealth that we know so far and there may be others as well. I know that also some indication was made that US embassy interested. We have the Taiwanese Embassy. And I am sure that we are going to have others as we go along. So it is not to say that anything is being hidden from anybody or we are doing something that is not required to us. We want for people to observe.”