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The Belize Elections and Boundaries Department is the hands-on administrator of Belizean electoral politics. It was established in 1989 as a subordinate to the Elections and Boundaries Commission.
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The Belize Elections and Boundaries Department is the hands-on administrator of Belizean electoral politics. It was established in 1989 as a subordinate to the Elections and Boundaries Commission.
As articulated by the EBD itself: "The Elections and Boundaries Department is committed to the enhancement of democracy through the promotion of voter education and the maintenance of a legitimate, impartial, valid electoral process."
The EBD was established by amendment to the Belize Constitution in 1988. The new amendment allowed the EBD's parent body, the EBC, to confer on it its powers in the constitution and the ROPA. Staffing the department was delegated to the Public Services Commission, which nominated all persons in the department including, after a further amendment in 2001, the Chief Elections Officer. The Department and Chief Elections Officer is now under the control of the Prime Minister's Office and reports to him as well as the commission.
The current chief elections officer is Dorothy Bradley, who succeeded Stuart Leslie in December 2006.
The functions of the department are grouped into three categories: Electoral Administration, Adjustment of Electoral Records, and Voter Education. Under these are the following:
The EBD's central office is located in Belize City, the municipality with the largest concentration of voters in the country, at P.O. Box 913, Mahogany Street Extension. Other offices include:
The offices are staffed with Registering Officers, Assistant Registering Officers, and Data Clerks to take care of the process of registering to vote.
The Belize Defence Force (BDF) is the military of Belize, and is responsible for protecting the sovereignty of the country. The BDF is under the Ministry of National Defence and Border Security, which is currently headed by Hon. Florencio Marin Jr.; the BDF itself is commanded by Brigadier General Azariel Loria. In 2012, the Belizean government spent about $17 million on the military, constituting 1.08% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
Dangriga, formerly known as Stann Creek Town, is a town in southern Belize, located on the Caribbean coast at the mouth of the North Stann Creek River. It is the capital of Belize's Stann Creek District. Dangriga is served by the Dangriga Airport. Commonly known as the "culture capital of Belize" due to its influence on punta music and other forms of Garifuna culture, Dangriga is the largest settlement in southern Belize.
Cayo District is a district located in the west part of Belize. It is the most extensive, second-most populous and third-most densely populated of the six districts of Belize. The district's capital is the town of San Ignacio.
Elections in Belize are the duly held elections held at various levels of government in the nation of Belize.
The House of Representatives of Belize is the lower chamber of the National Assembly, the other being the Senate. It was created under the 1981 constitution. Members are commonly called "Area Representatives".
General elections were held in Belize on 5 March 2003. Belizeans elected 29 members to the House of Representatives for a term of five years. The result was a victory for the ruling People's United Party (PUP), which won 22 of the 29 seats.
The Belize Premier Football League (BPFL) (Caribbean Motors Cup) was the premier division of association football in Belize sanctioned by the Football Federation of Belize. The league disbanded in 2011 after the merger with the Super League of Belize to create a new top league in Belize, the Premier League of Belize.
A municipal election was held in Belize on 4 March 2009. Voters elected sixty seven representatives, eighteen in city councils and forty nine in town councils.
Belize's 6 districts are politically divided into 31 constituencies. Each constituency sends one representative to Belize's House of Representatives for 5-year terms. This election is known as the General Election. Each person votes for the candidate they would want to represent their constituency in Central Government.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and introduction to Belize:
The Supreme Court of Judicature of Belize is one of three types of courts in Belize, the lower ones being the Magistrate's Courts and the Court of Appeal. It is a court of original jurisdiction in both civil and criminal cases as well as an appellate court. It is governed by the Supreme Court of Judicature Act (SCJA).
General elections were held in Belize on 7 March 2012 to elect all 31 members of the Belize House of Representatives as well as offices in the various local governments. The election was run by the Elections and Boundaries Commission's Elections and Boundaries Department. Dean Barrow and his United Democratic Party (UDP) were re-elected, but lost eight seats to the opposition People's United Party (PUP) to maintain a slim 17-14 majority in the Belize House. The upper house of the Belize National Assembly, the Senate, was appointed after the election by the UDP-led government in accordance with the Constitution of Belize.
General elections were held in Belize on 4 November 2015 to elect members of the House of Representatives. On 28 September 2015 Prime Minister Dean Barrow announced that he had advised the Governor-General to dissolve the National Assembly and to fix Wednesday 4 November 2015 as the date for the next general elections.
Municipal elections were held in Belize on 7 March 2012 at the same time as the Belizean general election. The United Democratic Party (UDP) won six municipalities, while the People's United Party (PUP) won three municipalities.
Municipal elections were held in Belize on 7 March 2018. Voters elected a total 67 representatives. This includes a mayor in each of the nine communities, 42 town councils and 16 city councillors. The elections saw the People's United Party approach local parity with the ruling United Democratic Party. In 2015, the UDP won 62 out of the 67 seats nationwide, with the opposition People's United Party won the remaining seats. In 2018, the UDP won 41 seats, with the PUP picking up the remaining 26. The PUP gained complete council control of Belize City and Corozal Town, picked up a council seat in Dangriga, and regained complete control of the Orange Walk Town council. The Belize Progressive Party had 13 councillor candidates in three elections, and mayoral candidates in those three elections as well as in San Ignacio/Santa Elena. There were also seven independent candidates for mayor.
Municipal elections are scheduled to be held in Belize on 6 March 2024. Local offices will be elected including the Mayor of Belize City.