Concerns raised over voter transfers into Punta Gorda Town 

Concerns are being raised over what sources describe as an attempt to pad the Punta Gorda voters’ list ahead of next year’s municipal elections.  Information reaching our newsroom suggests that voters who reside in Bella Vista Village are being transferred onto the Punta Gorda municipal voters’ roll, even though they allegedly do not live within the town’s boundaries.  Sources claim the questionable transfers are connected to an internal struggle within the People’s United Party over who will lead its Punta Gorda municipal slate and contest the mayoral seat. That allegation has not been independently proven, and no determination has yet been made that any transfer was improperly approved.  Our newsroom was first alerted to the alleged transfers earlier this week. Shortly afterwards, the Elections and Boundaries Department published an official list of objections for the Toledo East Electoral Division.  The notice identifies six electors whose inclusion has been challenged. The objection in each case was filed by Punta Gorda resident Leeroy Ned Supaul on the stated ground that the person does not reside in Punta Gorda Town.  The electors objected to are the former Senator Bevington Cal, Zhong Yao Ruan, Zhong Yue Ruan, Asher Marie Thompson, Bruce Sydney Thompson and Matias Santiago Xol. A revising officer is scheduled to hear the six cases at the Punta Gorda Magistrate’s Court at nine o’clock on July 30.  Earlier this month, the Chief Elections Officer Josephine Tamai laid out the rules for the transfer period.

Josephine Tamai, Chief Elections Officer: “This exercise is extremely important because many times we hear people complain about persons actually voting where they no longer reside. And I want to encourage the public and specifically registered electors, if you have moved, then go into the Elections and Boundaries registration office in the division where you now reside. The law provides and states that those persons shall inform the Elections and Boundaries Department. I know that many times people believe that they have an opportunity or they could decide but the law is specific to say that those persons shall visit the Elections and Boundaries Department to do their transfers. And so it is important if we want to see free and fair elections that in order for you to be eligible to register and for you to vote in any election you must be 18 years or more, you must be a Belizean citizen and one of the other requirements is that you must reside at the address at least two months or more in that specific division where you are applying to get registered.”

The Punta Gorda objections are similar to a dispute that arose in Cayo North in 2024, when more than one hundred registrations and transfers were challenged amid allegations that some applicants did not live in the constituency.  Following court hearings, a magistrate ordered twenty-four names struck from the Cayo North voters’ list after finding that the required qualifications had not been satisfied. That decision later became the subject of an appeal.