_{Photo: BPM press conference}

by Kristen Ku

BELIZE CITY, Wed. Apr. 17, 2024

The Belize Peace Movement (BPM) held a press conference today in Belize City, at which it called for the immediate start of the process of redistricting in the country.

Bobby Lopez, one of the claimants for BPM, which began a process in the courts in 2019 to get the then government to address large disparities in the size of the country’s electoral divisions, expressed frustration with the lack of progress on the redistricting exercise, despite clear recommendations from the Organization of American States (OAS) since 2012. The OAS had observed significant discrepancies in voter distribution across divisions, and urged the government to redraw boundaries to ensure fair voter representation.

“They recommend that the boundaries be redrawn before the next electoral process to address these discrepancies and ensure compliance with the constitutional requirement that all divisions have an equal number of persons eligible to vote,” Lopez stated.

Paul Morgan, BPM’s chief researcher, noted a deviation from the average division size by as much as 66%, far exceeding the international norms that suggest a maximum of 10% deviation.

This, Morgan explained, impacts the effectiveness of democratic governance in Belize. “It will not bring justice, nor will it bring any kind of finality to our case, because tomorrow, that young man over there and that young lady over there will find out that they now live in an area that is disenfranchised and not representing, and it will go back to the court if there are no standards. So we are fighting, brothers and sisters, for a standard to be set, and a fair standard at that,” he noted.

According to Arthur Saldivar, the attorney for BPM, a consent order was agreed upon that recognized the violation of Section 90 of the Belize Constitution. However, subsequent proposals for electoral boundary adjustments from the government have been inadequate, failing to meet the required standards to ensure each division has an equal number of voters as mandated by the Constitution, he said.

“Election & Boundaries took quite a long time to produce a dud, a lame duck proposal. And that lame-duck proposal is still sitting before Parliament. One would want to surmise or believe that Election & Boundaries is either negligent or incompetent. We certainly don’t want to think that they don’t care about our democracy. But the fact that they have done what they have done, with taxpayers’ money, no less, leaves a very bitter taste in our mouths; and it should leave a bitter taste in the mouth of every Belizean, because it’s not an exercise that requires a lot to do,” Saldivar commented.

The BPM believes that failure to carry out redistricting not only disrespects the electorate, but also poses a serious risk to the integrity of the general elections that are expected to be held next year.

They argued that without a fair distribution of voters in the various divisions, elections cannot truly be free and fair.