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Tomorrow at 7:00 am polling stations in Belize’s two cities and seven towns will open. 88,627 registered voters are eligible to go to the polls to choose their municipal leaders from a field of 165 candidates. The Elections and Boundaries Department says there will be 170 polling stations and the department expects turnout to be around 60%. Chief Elections Officer Ruth Meighan says preparation began in October and she expects a smooth operation from the time the polls open at 7 am to midnight when the final results should be in – which is much earlier than usual. A calm Ruth Meighan discussed tomorrow’s logistics and the do’s and don’t of voting with us this afternoon.

Ruth Meighan, Chief Elections Officer
“It depends on who you want to vote for. If you want to vote for a Mayor and ten Councillors then you vote for a Mayor and ten councillors. You cannot vote for two Mayors and neither can you vote for more than ten councillors.”

Keith Swift,
Can I vote for ten councillors without voting for a Mayor?

Ruth Meighan,
“Of course you can and the ballot will still be counted.”

Keith Swift,
Can I vote for a Mayor and no councillor?

Ruth Meighan,
“You can.”

Keith Swift,
If my vote for eleven councillor candidates will my ballot and I vote for only one Mayor will my ballot be spoilt?

Ruth Meighan,
“For the councillors it will not be good because you cannot vote for more councillors than seats that are available.”

Keith Swift,
But for the Mayor it will be valid?

Ruth Meighan,
“Yes because it is for one Mayor.”

Keith Swift,
What should voters not take with them to the polling station?

Ruth Meighan,
“We are asking that you don’t take, you can have your phone on you but you cannot use it once you get into the polling station. No cameras, no kind of electronic devices that you would be able to take pictures or anything with.”

Keith Swift,
Things are going to change in the sense that the counting will be different this time.

Ruth Meighan,
“This time what we are going to do is have more than one counting station within Belize City, San Ignacio, and Orange Walk. And the reason for that is for expediency, so that we could get the counting done a little quicker than it has been done before. So in the case of Belize City we will have ten counting stations spread across the city and in Orange Walk there will be three counting stations. In Cayo there will be three counting stations.”

Keith Swift,
When do you anticipate results will start coming in?

Ruth Meighan,
“Well with the new counting in Belize City, we will be counting at least thirty boxes at a time. So then if we have 74 boxes, that will almost half of it and we are hoping that, well I am hoping that by eleven to eleven thirty we should be done in Belize City.”

Keith Swift,
Given that this is a municipal election, are you anticipating high voter turnout?

Ruth Meighan,
“Compared to the general election, municipal election turnout usually is a little bit lower so if we are going by what has been the precedent set then I would say probably will be lower. I can’t really gauge from where I am sitting what the turnout is going to be but I am hoping that we will have a good turnout for this election.”

The turnout in Belize City in the 2006 municipal elections was 61% but in the other municipalities such as Orange Walk, San Pedro, and Corozal it was about or above 70% which is considered high for a municipal race. You will be able to track voter turnout in real time on the election and boundaries’ new website at elections.gov.bz.