Campaigning in Belmopan During COVID-19

Up to July tenth, eight thousand and forty voters are registered for the Belmopan division; about four hundred registrations that have been challenged and are before the courts. And at the pace of registration, come general elections, the constituency could swell to about eight thousand five hundred voters making it one of the biggest constituencies in the Cayo District.  But given the COVID-19 pandemic, candidates have suspended house-to-house campaigning and have had to get innovative with their campaigns while adhering to the social distancing regulations. So today, we asked Oscar Mira and Anna Banner-Guy about their campaign strategy in these COVID times.

Oscar Mira

Oscar Mira, P.U.P. Standard Bearer, Belmopan

“It’s different. We have to find innovative ways of reaching out to our voters. We have been working a lot with the phone, with social media—this is the new norm; this is what is going to happen from now on. So finding ways of getting the message through to our voters is very necessary. So having online shows—we are starting one as soon as we get our equipment together—and timing is everything. So right now the telephone is working hard, texts and just calling them. We have a lot of numbers; they give us the numbers and we get in touch with them to hear what their concerns are so that we can respond to them adequately. But it very difficult. You know as politicians and as someone aspiring to represent the people we want to have that person touch and it is difficult.”

Anna Banner-Guy

Anna Banner-Guy, Independent Candidate, Belmopan

“Fortunately for us, we have a lot of young people—most of our top campaign operatives are under thirty years old so this is a time for them to really show off their technical skills and their interaction with social media. So we have launched a full-fledged social media campaign. So we have a lot of activities going on that the entire community can access. We also know that it is very important to be on the ground, so we have put strict measures in place in terms of how our campaigner would go out and interact with the community. For example we are not doing any kind of grouping campaign, we are not visiting houses. We are leaving off our brochures and other very important, informative documents to our voters across Belmopan.”