Government Reaffirms Redistricting Before Next Elections

The government has once again underscored its commitment to delivering long-overdue electoral redistricting before Belizeans head to the polls. The assurance came yesterday from Minister Henry Charles Usher, who appeared on The Morning Show to discuss progress on the matter and outline what Belizeans can expect in the coming months.  Minister Usher, who no longer holds the Governance portfolio following its recent transfer to Minister Kareem Musa, emphasized that despite the shift in responsibilities, the administration remains fully dedicated to ensuring that the redistricting exercise is completed in time for the next General Elections.  He reiterated that the work is already underway and will be completed before the next national election cycle. He stressed that the process must balance several technical considerations, including population size, community boundaries, and geographic realities.

Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Public Service: “As you know, the constitution is very clear that it’s the Election and Boundaries Commission that is in charge of the redistricting, they are the ones that are supposed to be looking at the boundaries of the existing constituencies to determine how they need to be adjusted, or they are the ones that are to propose if there needs to be new constituencies added. Again, there was a question as to whether they could remove a constituency, which is is not explicit in the Constitution. I think that that is an area that the PCC has also looked at to say that they should be given that authority to be able to consolidate constituencies, meaning removing one or two, also to be able to add constituencies based on the population. Now it was always important that the census be completed and the census is now completed, has been completed since last year. When the report was submitted, the last redistricting report, the one that was rejected, I mean, all over, they were really operating without all of the information they needed because they didn’t have the census, they didn’t have the benefit of the constitutional amendments that are needed to clarify what they can do. One of the areas that is contentious in the constitution is what is the meaning of eligible? It says the number of persons eligible to vote. It doesn’t say the number of persons registered to vote. Now you might be eligible to vote. This young man in here right now is 18 years old, but he’s not registered to vote. So he can’t vote, but he’s eligible to vote because he can get registered. He’s a Belizean citizen and he’s 18 years old. Should we consider him when we’re doing the redistricting ? Or should we not? And that is a question that has to be answered because the Constitution has to be as clear as possible. Laws have to be as clear as possible and it uses the word eligible it does not use the word registered and I think that’s very important that we clarify it.”

Redistricting has been one of Belize’s most persistent and contentious national issues for well over a decade. Population disparities between constituencies, some with fewer than 3,000 voters and others with over 10,000, have long been criticized for undermining the constitutional principle of equal representation. Minister Usher noted several other factors to deliberate for the redistricting exercise.

Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Public Service: “When I’m  elected as the representative for Fort George I don’t only represent the registered voters. I represent all the residents of Fort George. I represent those who are registered, who are not registered, who can’t even be registered because they’re not 18 years old yet. I have to represent them as well. So that is something we have to understand. It’s not looking at only the registered voters, but looking at the total population of that particular constituency in terms of drawing the boundaries. And so those areas need to be clarified. Those need, we need clarity on those to be able to determine how the boundaries will join.”

Rene Villanueva Sr, Host, The Morning Show:  Any progress being made towards that clarity of getting that clarity? 

Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Public Service: “So the last report I got from the Chief Elections Officer is that the Elections and Boundaries Commission has met and they have put together a proposal in terms of the way forward and one of the first proposals is to look at these constitutional amendments to get them in place now to get that clarity. So I believe the Attorney General’s ministry is looking at those particular sections to determine what is the meaning of eligible and I’m sure that they will have to get some kind of outside legal assistance to say, how have other jurisdictions interpreted the word eligible? Number one, and number two, what are the procedures for the commission to be able to add a seat or to remove a seat or a constituency, I mean. And so those areas need to be clarified. They’ve also put together a proposal for their task force as they want to call it to look at the redistricting and then from there they’re going to meet their recommendations. But as I said, everything needs to be done. 2026 has to be a very important year. Why? Because we don’t have any elections. So we want to get all of these matters completed in 2026 because of course ’27 we move into municipal elections. I think in ’28 we might have village council elections and you know I think it’s important that we get this done in this particular year so that we can know the way forward.”

Civil society groups, including the Belize Peace Movement, have taken legal action over the imbalance, arguing that it violates the democratic standard of “one person, one vote.”  The matter has also drawn the attention of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), which highlighted the need for Belize to realign its electoral boundaries to reflect modern population distribution. In response, the Briceño Administration established the People’s Constitution Commission and pledged to move forward with a transparent, data-driven redistricting process.