Redistricting process will be big job
Redistricting: it’s a subject that does not sound very exciting…but when the new electoral boundaries are finally drawn, you can be sure that the noise from the public, politicians and news media will be deafening. In an effort to keep citizens informed from the start, the Elections and Boundaries Department on Tuesday hosted a half-day seminar on how the redistricting process will work. News 5’s Patrick Jones reports.
Patrick Jones, Reporting
The exercise of redrawing divisional boundaries will correct the huge imbalance in the number of electors in the different constituencies. For instance, as it currently stands Cayo South is the largest division with eight thousand, eight hundred and fourteen registered voters, while Pickstock at the other end of the spectrum is the smallest with only two thousand and eighteen electors. This disparity of over four to one flies in the face of Section 90 of the Constitution, which states that, “each electoral division shall have as nearly as may be an equal number of persons eligible to vote.” Attorney at law Wilfred Elrington says while full mathematical equality is not achievable the breach of the spirit of the constitution needs urgent attention.
Wilfred Elrington, Attorney At Law
“I would want to think that if in fact all the divisions would be about the same size with variation maybe varying five percent over or ten percent over. I think that would be acceptable. For example, the Pickstock Division has two thousand voters, Fort George has two thousand and ten votes, two thousand and twenty votes, Cayo has two thousand, Corozal northwest has two thousand five, that would be all right. What is not acceptable is where one division has one thousand, like in Pickstock or Fort George and then Port Loyola has six thousand and Cayo West has six thousand. That can’t be acceptable, because it means that the representative in Pickstock for example would only have to deal with one thousand people, and the benefits that would accrue by his representation to those thousand would be able to spread much more evenly than in fact the representative that has to deal with six thousand people.”
The process of redistricting will be a monumental undertaking. Chairman of the Elections and Boundaries Commission Karl H. Menzies says, given the resources at his disposal, the exercise will be given the highest priority.
Karl Menzies, Chairman, Election & Boundaries Commission
“I can only say that we will try to do our job in a fair and honest way. But I think there has to be some strengthening in the laws for certain things. Like for instance, as you heard here today discussed, the way people say they live somewhere when they actually live somewhere else. I think that something has to be done about that if we’re going to be accurate, if we’re going to have an accurate representation by the people in the area that they say they live.”
Patrick Jones
“So the people out there should not worry that gerrymandering or other underhanded things will be done in the process?”
Karl Menzies
“Well I can only say that we, at least as far as I am concerned, I have always done my best to do a job efficiently and honestly and that is what I hope to do or I would not have taken this position.”
But exactly how to approach the undertaking has not yet been finalized. A task force charged with recommending the way forward is due to hand in its preliminary report at the end of the month. And even after that body submits its final recommendations to the National Assembly, the politicians will have the right to accept, reject or alter. As for Attorney Wilfred Elrington–himself a one time candidate for office–Chief Elections Officer Myrtle Palacio us up to the task… but she will not have the final say.
Wilfred Elrington
“I have a lot of respect for Myrtle as a matter of fact, to the extent that she can ensure that the process is fair. I am very impressed about what she has done at the Commission too and how they have been handling the elections so far, and the whole process. Now, of course I know that she doesn’t have the final authority. I also know that our politicians tend to be very maverick, tend to be very independent. And so while I feel very confident that the commission will do all in its power to try to ensure that we get a good, fair objective re-division process, I can’t say what is going to happen when the matter is put to the National Assembly. That’s a different matter.”
Patrick Jones, for News 5.
For those not familiar with the term, gerrymandering is the process in which electoral boundaries are redrawn in such a way as to favour the party in charge of the process. Whatever the exact outcome of Belize’s redistricting exercise, it is expected that one result will be a slight shift of power away from Belize City and toward the districts, particularly Cayo. If the total number of seats in the House of Representatives was to remain unchanged, it would likely mean that the city would lose at least one of its present constituencies, probably on the north side. Looking at the statistics, the most obvious solution would be to combine the nation’s two smallest divisions, Pickstock and Fort George, into one.
