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Today, the Chief Elections Officer told the press how it will happen - and what you need to re-register:...

Josephine Tamai, Chief Elections Officer
"We expect that registration centers across country will be opened on the 2nd of July 2018. Basically, we encourage all the persons who have been registered to come out and reregister. Persons who have not yet registered and qualify to be registered, to come out and register. Persons who suffer from old age or some physical incapacity, those persons can contact the registering officers countrywide and we will reach out to those person to accept their applications. When it comes to qualifications, the persons who qualify to get registered and to reregister. A person must be 18 years of age and is a citizen of Belize or a citizen of a commonwealth country who has resided in Belize for not less than 12 months. In order to be qualified as registered elector in a particular division, persons must reside at that specific address within that division for not less than 2 months, that is crucial. You must reside at your addresses for at least 2 months in order for you to be register for that particular address."

"Persons who come to the registration centers are required to bring along with them their original birth certificate and a photograph. The photograph can be on which is signed, stamped and certified by a justice of the peace. We also will be accepting the social security card as a form of identification, a picture ID. Persons can also bring a valid passport with them. Naturalized Belizeans must bring along either their Belizean passport or their nationality certificates. For those persons who present nationality certificated that does not have photographs on them, they are to ensure that they bring along a picture ID again, signed, stamped and certified by a justice of the peace in order for them to be able to get registered."

"That is basically saying that any person who comes in must bring an identification card or a photo identification signed by a justice of the peace. The process should take us up until the end of this year which should be December. When we talk about registration centers, we have already identified approximately 100 registration centers across the country where we will be conducting registration during the months of July and August. Once those registration centers are closed at the end of August, then persons will have to go in to the election and boundaries registration offices to apply to register or to reregister."

Reporter
"How do you respond to the criticism that the process of reregistration is unfairly discriminatory against the poorest and most rural Belizeans? Because those who live in urban centers those with means of transportation cheap and affordable means of transportation will inevitably be able to reregister quite easily, but if you live in remote areas, it's a long way and costly way before you reach the reregistration center."

Josephine Tamai, Chief Elections Officer
"But again like I mentioned, if persons are out there and they know that they want to get registered, as long as information comes to us we will facilitate."

Again, Re-registration starts on July first.