Chief Elections Officer says voting went smoothly

Since dawn this morning, the men and women of the Elections and Boundaries Department have been working side by side with more than a hundred public officers to ensure an orderly, efficient voting process in polling stations across the country. Late this afternoon we caught up with the man at the helm of Belize’s electoral system, Chief Elections Officer Stuart Leslie, for a summary of the day’s events.

Stuart Leslie, Chief Elections Officer
?San Ignacio was interesting, but then politics in San Ignacio is always interesting. We had one instant where a tour guide decided to bring a whole bunch of tourists into the polling station and when we arrived there the tourists were taking photographs of Belizeans going to vote, and so we had to kinda bring some control there. But all in all, it seems almost festive in the districts. In Belmopan, with the three parties colours running all up and down the streets. If you were just driving by and you were a tourist you would say, where?s the party? So it?s very good. We?ve had only one instance that I know of a fight breaking out in San Ignacio when I was there. We?ve had no reports from the police of anything, in fact I spoke with the Assistant Commissioner of Police for Operations countrywide and he said that things are going around smoothly.?

Janelle Chanona
?With roughly two hours to go, what?s the numbers looking like? You had predicted about a sixty percent overall voter turnout. Are we near that??

Stuart Leslie
?Well, you know the voting goes in peaks. I think between four o?clock and six o?clock you?re going to see a spike in voter turnout, obviously because even I myself haven?t voted yet; I am just now here to vote. People will take time off from work to go to the polls, so you will see that occurring. I think that we are pretty much on track. I know that you are hearing on the media right, as you and I are having this conversation, that the voter turnout seem low, but this is a municipal election, it is not a general election and in municipal elections the turnout tends to be less intense than you would see in a general election. So I feel that we are going to see the numbers go up as we get closer to six o?clock.?

Janelle Chanona
?The real excitement starts tonight, how do you anticipate that going tonight??

Stuart Leslie
?I am sure that in places like Orange Walk and in San Ignacio and in Belmopan it is going to be excitement and the carnival spirit. We have our contingencies in place, the police have their contingencies in place, the media will be given the access so that they can be as colourful as they always are. We have some fancy graphics up at our headquarters here that we hope to keep people informed. I am anticipating again, a very festive spirit.?