New Elections Commission Paves Way for Redistricting

The Government of Belize is moving closer to undertaking a long-awaited redistricting exercise, following the recent swearing-in of a new Elections and Boundaries Commission, which will oversee the process.  Minister of Good Governance, Kareem Musa, says the appointment of the commission marks a critical step forward in ensuring the exercise proceeds in a structured and constitutional manner.  

Kareem Musa, Minister of Governance: “As you might have heard last week, the Commission, the Elections and Boundaries Commission, which handles the redistricting exercise and anything related to elections they were recently appointed. The three previous government representatives are still the government representatives and the opposition has appointed two new members to that commission, namely Attorney-at-Law Mr. Aldo Salazar and Ms. Juliet Thimbreil. As you know, the Prime Minister has made this a priority for the government and it is hoped that by the end of the year or latest early next year that we will have completed the redistricting exercise. I know that the last commission had a lot of questions as it related to the interpretation of not just the Ropa but other pieces of legislation or constitution and the constitutionality of particular provisions and how they are to be interpreted. And so it is likely that that will carry on over into this new commission, that they will have similar constitutional concerns that might require constitutional amendments for us to be more clear in terms of the interpretation of certain sections of the law. So that’s going to be, I would say the first order of business for the commission, for them to look at the proposals that they had presented on the last occasion and to see how we can move forward to get within that timeline of getting the redistricting completed by the end of this year.”

The redistricting exercise is aimed at reviewing and, where necessary, adjusting Belize’s electoral boundaries to ensure greater equality among constituencies. Under the Belize Constitution, each electoral division should have “as nearly as may be” an equal number of eligible voters.  Overtime, population shifts have led to imbalances in the number of voters across the country’s thirty-one constituencies, making redistricting a key democratic requirement.  The process will see the Elections and Boundaries Commission conduct technical reviews, gather data, and make recommendations to the National Assembly, which has final authority to approve any changes