Belize Votes a Historic YES to take Territorial Claim to the I.C.J.

It’s a historic YES. Early on Wednesday night, a clear picture began emerging that Belizeans had decided in favour of taking the Guatemalan territorial claim to the International Court of Justice. The turnout was better that anticipated and a tidal wave of Yes was sweeping across the country. But the certified results were announced until at five this morning in a recorded statement by the Chief Elections officer Josephine Tamai.  A total of ninety-six thousand four hundred and seventeen votes were cast across the country of the one hundred and forty-eight thousand registered voters.  The results showed the largest margins of victory for the YES in Belize Rural Central and North as well as Queen Square in the Belize District.  Here is the Chief Elections Officer.

Josephine Tamai, Chief Elections Officer

“The total number of ballot papers counted is ninety-six thousand four hundred and seventeen. Total votes cast for YES is fifty-three thousand three hundred and eighty-eight. The total votes cast for NO is forty-three thousand and twenty-nine. As a result, the majority of voters in the entire country had approved the preposition for the referendum on the territorial dispute.”

The largest voter turnout was recorded in Queen Square, the Prime Minister’s constituency, where eighty-three percent votes yes for the referendum and the lowest was in Port Loyola.  In certain constituencies, the winds of change prevailed. In Cayo West, which has been a U.D.P. stronghold, fifty-three percent went NO, but in Cayo South, the YES vote was ahead. In Corozal Bay, which is a division primarily comprising the town, the voters went NO in line with the P.U.P. position.