What do they do in normal times? I realize this is a small island, small population. Don’t they have mail in votes? What if someone is in hospital, (not covid) what happens then? In this age of technology, looks like this country is behind the times!!!
Firstly Belize isn't an island, it is attached to Mexico on the north and Guatemala on the west and south. Part of Belize (Ambergris Caye) is on a long peninsula off Mexico and many folk think it is an island. There are lots of islands off the coast of Belize, usually called cayes. The country is about the size of Massachusetts with a population of close to 400,000. Yes, they are quite behind the times in many aspects but they are a young and very poor country.
I am not aware of what has previously been done for those unable to vote in elections and the expats we know there are not aware of any special arrangements for the sick to vote. They said this is the first time they can remember an announcement like this being made, but the country has never been in lockdown like this before either. I just assumed that being a Commonwealth country like Canada that their election process would be similar, I guess it is just the structure that is the same.
We were in the country for the last municipal elections and found the process almost laughable. Candidates openly paid (cash in little brown envelopes) to folks for their vote. Candidates for Mayor seemed to be affiliated with one of the 2 national parties and they had crews painting the electrical poles to match their party colour during the weeks leading up to the election. Which ever candidates' crew got to the pole first was the colour it remained until it washed off weeks later. The day before the election all employees at City Hall were asked to remove all their personal belongings from the building. At the end of the day before elections the mayor locked up the City Hall and took the keys to the Police Chief for safe keeping until after the election. City Hall and all divisions of the municipal government were closed on election day. The mayor of the town we stay in (Corozal) was defeated and when the newly elected mayor got the keys from the Police Chief the morning after the election, and opened up City Hall, he found all the desks, chairs, computers, other machinery and many files missing! Of course nobody knew anything about the missing things. The new mayor appoints all new municipal staff and apparently went on a shopping spree to outfit City Hall from the businesses that supported him or his party.
~Diane
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