BELMOPAN, Belize (CMC) – An estimated 191,018 Belizeans are eligible to cast ballots on Wednesday in a general election that Prime Minister John Briceño called nine months ahead of the constitutional deadline.

The Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) said that there are 90 candidates seeking to take control of the 31-seat Parliament and that polling stations will open at 7.00 am (9.00 am ECT) for an 11-hour period to allow voters to cast their ballots.

The Chief Elections Officer, Josephine Tamai, has warned voters against photographing their ballot, saying if caught, law enforcement will confiscate the device, and they face a fine of up to BDZ$500 (one Belize dollar = US$0.49 cents) or even jail.

Tamai said that the “vote is private and must remain secret, so refrain from taking selfies or capturing any part of the voting process.”

The elections are being held amid the ongoing debates about the need for redistricting.

The Belize Peace Movement (BPM) and other advocacy groups had tried unsuccessfully to get the High Court to force the government to delay the polls, claiming that there was a need for the constitutional requirement for redistricting before any new elections.

The elections are being monitored by the observers from the Organisation of American States (OAS), and while both the ruling People’s United Party (PUP) and the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) are contesting all 31 seats, the EBC has also approved the 10 candidates of the Alliance for Democracy, a UDP faction, to use the same colour symbol as the main opposition party.

The other parties in the race are the Belizean Justice Movement (BJM) with seven candidates and the General Opportunity Development Party (GODP) with one candidate. The People’s National Party (PNP) has two candidates, and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has four candidates. There are four candidates running as independents.

The ruling party has already won two seats after two government ministers were nominated unopposed on nomination day.

Minister of the Public Service, Constitutional and Political Reform and Religious Affairs, Henry Charles Usher, and Minister of Tourism and Diaspora Relations, Anthony Mahler, were nominated as candidates for the Fort George Area and the Pickstock Area constituencies, respectively.

One of the independent candidates, Elva Vega, a former PUP Area Representative for Corozal Bay, has received the support of the UDP, with its leader, Shyne Barrow, saying he is confident that Vega has a better chance of securing the seat.

“We believe that it is better for Elvia Vega to win that seat than Thea Garcia,” Barrow said, criticising the former UDP candidate, Herman Riverol, who is now running under the UDP’s breakaway faction headed by Tracy Teager-Panton.

But Prime Minister Briceño has expressed disappointment at Vega’s decision to run as an independent.

“She knows she can’t win… If she is a good PUP as she claims to be, then she and her supporters will support the candidate of the PUP. That’s the oath that she took,” Briceño told reporters.

In the last general elections held on November 11, 2020, the then-opposition PUP achieved its first national election victory since 2003, winning 26 seats, while the then-incumbent UDP suffered its worst result since 1998, winning the remaining five seats.