Referendum for Caye Caulker residents set for October 8

Registered voters who reside on Caye Caulker will be going to a referendum in 40 days.  The Elections and Boundaries Department made the official announcement today that a referendum on cannabis legalization will take place on Wednesday, October 8.  This decision comes after the “Legalize It Caye Caulker” advocacy group successfully submitted a petition that garnered 365 approved signatures, surpassing the 25% threshold of registered electors required to trigger the vote. The petition was initially submitted to Governor General Dame Froyla Tzalam on July 31.  Earlier this month, Minister of Constitutional Reform, Henry Usher, spoke on the unprecedented matter which could possibly see a separation of laws when it comes to the legalization of marijuana.

Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Governance: “In terms of election and boundaries office, they have to prepare for the referendum and of course that entails having a similar to, it would be like in this case a village council election almost in the village of Caye Caulker because it’s only the registered voters in Caye Caulker that would be able to vote. Now they can vote in Belize Rural South but San Pedro also votes in Belize Rural South, but they would not be able to vote in this referendum because they don’t live and are not registered  in Caye Caulker Village. Certainly there is a school of thought that’s saying that a local election can only deal with local issues. It should not deal with national issues. For instance, let’s say if the residents of Caye Caulker went to a referendum to say that they did not want to have any vehicles on their island, only golf carts, that’s something that would only be local to them. It’s something that certainly they would be able to look at. Or if they would say we don’t want any more piers on our island, you know. I mean, again, those are all local issues that they would be looked at. But what this particular question has  are national issues not only in terms of cannabis legislation but they also talk about the distribution of tax dollars. They talk about a certain percentage going to the benefit of Caye Caulker. So it all has to do with national issues. We certainly will have to be guided by the attorney general. As I said, these are national issues that would have to be looked at, looking at national laws, looking at and the national budget and so on. And so the attorney general will have to advise the government on the way forward.”

The referendum will pose the following specific question to voters: “Should the Government of Belize pass legislation to create a responsible, regulated, and taxable legal cannabis industry on the island of Caye Caulker, with a portion of the revenue going directly for the benefit of Caye Caulker?”  In related news, the Elections and Boundaries Department has highlighted the critical deadline for residents who plan to participate.  According to E and B, the cut-off date for voter registration is September 11, which would allow them to carry out due process on new applications.  It is expected that the final list of qualified voters will be revised and finalized by the end of September.  The notice emphasizes that anyone who applies for registration after the September 11 cut-off date will not be eligible to vote in the October 8 referendum. /